


We Must Still Go On

by Ella (ellabellachicketychella)



Series: why do the stars shine so bright [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Angst, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Eventual Happy Ending, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Keith (Voltron) Revealed as Galra, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Panic Attacks, Pidge | Katie Holt is a Good Friend, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), What else is new?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 40,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27364423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellabellachicketychella/pseuds/Ella
Summary: Moving forward is hard. When you blame yourself for dropping your best-friend to his death. It's hard when the life and heart of the team is gone, gone to a pit of lava. Moving on is hard. Moving forward is harder.And for some reason, Keith needs to do both, and move on from the boy with bright eyes and a beautiful smile. The boy that Keith wouldn't forget even if he tried.---“You expect us to forget?” Hunk’s voice broke completely and Keith shook his head.“No, no, I don’t. Not Lance,” Keith’s eyes watered before he hunched over. Because he knew deep down that he'd never forget Lance, as long as he was alive Keith would remember him.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: why do the stars shine so bright [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979423
Comments: 98
Kudos: 221





	1. The Silence Stretches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is a direct sequel to my story, 'You Need To Let Go' I'd recommend reading that. At least. I'd also recommend reading the entire series, as there is a lot of foreshadowing and references in those books and it's a long read. But what else do you really have to do.
> 
> Trigger Warnings/Content Warnings: Keith has panic attacks. There is a lot of crying, angst, and some blood (to come)

When Keith found out that Red had gone missing in the scuffle he had laughed. Actually laughed out loud through his tears. Sure, his best-friend/teammate/crush was gone and his heart was currently collapsing in on itself from the loss of him.

But he laughed. Shiro had looked at him, partly scared and partly concerned and Keith just laughed harder. 

Red was gone. Lance was gone. Keith’s will to live, while normally very fragile had been shattered like a mirror. 

In other words, everything was going great. Fantastically.

Pidge and Hunk were messes, Allura and Coran were messes. Shiro was a mess but was trying to hide it to keep the pretence that someone had control over the situation, when no one really had control of the situation.

Hunk and Pidge were currently crying in their respective rooms, and Keith knew he was supposed to be doing the same. He’d just lost his best friend and someone who he was crushing on an insane amount.

Yet, he found himself staring up at the ceiling. Feeling nothing. Not anything, just numb and he couldn’t explain it anymore than that. It was just… nothing, like someone had drained any emotions out of him or that he’d used all his emotions in the past day.

He thought of Maria McClain, who he had promised to protect her son. He didn’t feel guilty about it, just nothing, like it wasn’t something that registered. He should’ve felt guilty for not feeling anything but he just— didn’t feel anything.

All he felt was the rise and fall of his chest.

There was a knock on the door and Keith sat up. “Come in,” he called out and Shiro walked in. Slightly exhausted looking, with bags under his eyes that would rival a racoons. A glass of water was in his hands and he looked at Keith. 

“Oh.” Is what Shiro said.

“I know.”

He’d done this before, the numb thing. When Yua and Eiji Shirogane had died, Keith had cried at the funeral until he couldn’t breathe and then he had just stopped feeling anything. It was numbness.

His therapist had said that it was a defence mechanism, to protect himself. There was a long-winded reason why he felt like he needed to protect himself but Keith could sum it up like this:

When he was living on the streets having an emotion for too long was a compromise and he couldn’t see the world the way he needed to see it. So for a while he just… stopped, and then the problem was getting him to start feeling again.

Apparently the answer was something stuffy like accepting his trauma or something. Keith thought it was fast food, shockingly enough, Keith was wrong. Then he got really angry about everything, a mix of teenage angst and accepting that people had treated him badly and then he got mad over that.

It was a time and a half.

“I thought you were past this?”

Keith just looked at him and Shiro mumbled an apology, putting his glass down.

“Don’t tell me how everyone else is handling this,” Keith sighed. “I don’t want to know.”

Shiro sat on his bed, running a hand through the white tuft he loved so much. He didn’t say anything for a while, “What do you need?”

“Red back, Lance to not be a pile of ash at the bottom of a lava pit?”

Shiro didn’t say anything for a long while and Keith saw him blink away tears.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured before properly sitting up. Trying to decide on something, or anything to say to Shiro, who was trying to fight away tears and not doing a very good job. “You can be upset Shiro. It’s healthy, don’t be like me.”

Shiro sniffed. Before hugging his knees to his chest, and looking a lot smaller than he actually was. Drawing in on himself, as he sniffed. Shiro had never been a loud crier, or much of a crier at all. “He was a good kid, that’s all, and… he deserves better than…” he trailed off before making a small noise.

Keith pat him on the back, almost awkwardly and Shiro just laughed on that, shocking on his tears a little bit. Before crying a little bit more, tears rolling down his cheeks as Shiro shook his head.

He laughed, through tears, which was an ugly laugh. 

Still, Keith felt nothing.

When dinner came and everyone had a crying session, where Hunk had a panic attack and Pidge had an asthma attack, Keith stood there awkwardly. His arms crossed tightly, as Pidge shot him glares.

Still, nothing.

Pidge walked up to Keith, her tears still drying and seething with rage. Actually shaking as she prodded him in the chest and Keith just looked at her.

“Do you even care about him!” Pidge yelled, prodding him harder. “You dropped him, you let go. He’s dead because of you! And you’re not even doing anything, you’re not crying, you’re not doing anything!”

She prodded Keith in the chest again, walking forwards as he walked backwards. “You say you’re part of this team, but when we need you, you’re suddenly a lone wolf again. It’s bullshit! If Lance was here he’d be tearing his hair out for you! You’re doing nothing!”

Keith just stared.

There was the sound of skin and skin and pain shooting through his cheek and Keith stumbled away. Flinching. Before staring at Pidge, who didn’t even look guilty.

_She’s going to hit you. She’s going to hit you. She hit you._ Keith’s stomach swooped, and he walked backwards. Running into the wall instead of the door that was right next to him. Before spinning around and bolting.

Because running was easier, running was easier and it was all Keith knew how to do.

Then… _oh_. The emotions hit him like a wave, threatening to drag him back under and kill him there. He closed his door behind him, before sitting on the floor. His heads in his hands, as he sobbed and heaved.

Inside he was screaming, his lungs were longing for some air.

His lungs weren’t working. Why did he feel claustrophobic in his own body? His lungs weren’t working. He needed a pod, he needed a pod before he died. Gasping for breath, he tried to breathe. It wasn’t enough.

_You’re going to die here!_

He knew that! His mind screamed back as he tried to breathe. In and out like Adam had taught him so long ago. In and out. It wasn’t that hard, why couldn’t he do it? Breathing was a human instinct? Why wouldn’t he breathe?

_You dropped him. You dropped him._

He knew that, he knew that. He knew that like he knew running and fighting.

Choking on another sob there was a soft knock on the door. A knock Keith recognised as Pidge’s when she wanted to play a video game, he recognised that knock as one that didn’t normally hit him.

“Fuck off!” Keith managed, swallowing down a sob. “I don’t want you here Pidge!”

There! He got out a whole sentence. Before his lungs fell in on him again.

“I know,” she said softly. “I need to apologise. I really, really need to apologise. You don’t need to open the door. But I’d like you to.” Keith stayed quiet, before trying to get his breathing under control.

Slowly he slammed his hand on the panel and the door slid open. Pidge was standing there, looking tiny as she was framed by the door. She stepped in, brushing a hand through her hair absent-mindedly. 

Keith sat down on his bed, hunched over as he tried to breathe. Pidge squatted down in front of him. Why wouldn’t his lungs work? No matter how much he breathed, nothing would work.

He needed to breathe, he needed to breathe.

“What’s your favourite animal?” She asked and Keith stopped not being able to breathe to just look at her.

“What—”

“Favourite animal?”

“Hippo. Or Mothman.”

“Favourite murder mysteries?” Pidge asked, smiling a little bit and Keith actually started thinking about it.

“JFK.”

Pidge nodded approvingly, “A man of culture I see.”

“The Black Dahlia.” Keith finished, before wrinkling up his nose. “Zodiac? But I do like the Pink Panther heists. Oh, The Somerton Man and DB Cooper.”

Pidge clapped her hands together, smiling. “Feeling better?”

“A bit,” Keith said, and he wasn’t even lying a tiny bit and Pidge saw that and didn’t call him out on his bullshit. “Just— I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” she crossed her legs underneath her and twisted her hands in her lap. “Nothing that I said was remotely true, and I shouldn’t have— punching you wasn’t cool. It was out of line and I’m not expecting you to forgive me, because I wouldn’t forgive me. I’m sorry.”

Keith just rubbed at his eyes, “We gotta stick together don’t we?” He smiled, and it was only slightly forced as his eyes filled with tears. 

The words were so simple, yet they were said with years worth of emotions and they meant so much, Pidge knew that. Her eyes also were covered in tears as she flung her arms around Keith’s shoulders and Keith hugged her back.

He’d always wanted a sister and he’d found one in Pidge. Whether she liked it or not. Or even whether he wanted to or not. 

Pidge was crying into his shoulder and Keith was crying too. “He’s really gone,” Pidge whispered. “He’s really, really gone.”

Keith nodded, before breaking down all over again. “He is,” he cried. “He really, really is.”

* * *

Keith was expecting Lance to come storming in with a bad revelation. Like maybe the Earth is actually flat, or that the sky is actually every colour. Pidge was too, she kept glancing at the doorway that Lance was famous from bursting through.

Allura was on the couch, looking quite awkward about sitting on the couch. Coran was lounging to her side, legs stretched out in front of him. Shiro was on the same couch as him, looking forward.

Pidge was on the beanbag and Hunk was on the floor. Just lying on it. Looking up at the ceiling. “Now what?” Allura said and she got met with several withering glares. “No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

She facepalmed.

“I sure hope not,” Hunk snapped, but his voice wobbled dangerously. 

“How do we…” she stopped trying to think of a response. “Move forward.”

Pidge sat up, opening her mouth and Keith sat up straighter. Saying something before Pidge could. “She doesn’t mean forgetting, moving forward is different,” and people looked at him. Like he was something much greater than what he really was. “I think we can’t stay like this forever,” he gestured to everyone lounging about. “I’m not expecting us to stop this straight away, because this hurts.”

Shiro’s eyes were proud, and that was enough to keep going. “But afterwards… as morbid as it is, we have a universe to save and as much as I want to, and as much as this is ripping me up inside, and might forever… we can’t mope forever.”

“You expect us to forget?” Hunk’s voice broke completely and Keith shook his face.

“No, no, I don’t. Not Lance,” Keith’s eyes watered before he hunched over. Because he knew deep down that he'd never forget Lance, as long as he was alive Keith would remember him. Everyone just looked at him, eyes different levels of confusion and concern. Before letting out a quiet, broken, broken noise. “I dropped him.”

“Bullshit.” Pidge snapped, her eyes determined and strong. “He let go. We all know you would’ve held on until you both fell if Lance asked you to.”

There were a bunch of nods around the room and Keith responded by a loud sniff. “Keith, how long have you been blaming yourself?” Shiro asked, in his team-leader voice, caring but stern. Comforting. Whatever other positive adjectives you wanted to use.

Everyday. The answer was that simple. Since he dropped him.

Instead Keith shook his head, his hair and bangs covering his eyes. And everyone knew the answer that he didn’t need to say. Before Pidge swore several times and Allura just made a sad sound.

Shiro put his hands on Keith’s shoulders and he looked up at him. Feeling like a kid. “Keith. It wasn’t your fault, there was nothing you could’ve done.”

“There’s always something,” Keith swatted Shiro away. “There was something—”

“Bullshit!” Pidge yelled again, before getting up and grabbing Keith by the shoulders before shaking him back and forth. “This isn’t your fault! I’d be the first person telling you that it was if it was! And if Lance knew he was blaming yourself he’d throw you out the airlock.”

Hunk was nodding over her shoulder, which added a bit more. Even if all of their eyes were misty and all the words they were saying were slightly struggled and difficult to tear from their throats. 

“If the situations were reversed would you be blaming Lance? Or the same thing happened with Lance and I?”

Keith shook his head.

“So why is it different?” Pidge finished, letting go of Keith who felt a bit concussed. 

“Because,” he started quietly. “I promised his mom I’d keep him safe and that he’d come back. I promised your parents, Hunk, Pidge, that I’d keep you safe!” He hunched over again before swiping endlessly at his eyes. 

It’s quiet for a long moment. As everyone realises the weight of those words. “The last communicator,” Pidge said out loud and it went quiet after that. Keith just wrapped his arms around himself. “Did you even contact anyone… contact anyone and talk about yourself?”

Keith just laughed, a laugh interlaced with tears, sadness and guilt. “The only people who want to hear from me are right in this room.” He laughed a little more, and he knew it was an ugly sound, and he didn’t care.

“I think…” Allura said, “We should get out of this quadrant. Rest for a few Quintants or perhaps longer. Then we figure out where to go from there.”

Keith nodded, before standing up, going to run away and honestly probably have a meltdown in his bedroom. But someone caught his wrist and he was dragged backwards into someone’s arms.

Spinning around he was met with Pidge. Who then proceeded to fling her arms around his middle. “Group hug!” Hunk yelled and was met with several people flinging into his side as he was surrounded by his friends.

“Get off me,” Keith muttered, but it was half-hearted at best and everyone knew he didn’t mean it.

“You’re a softie,” Hunk replied, “We’ve turned you soft!”

Shiro laughed and Keith scowled.

Maybe it wouldn’t be okay ever again, but he had people looking out for him. People who cared with their entire hearts, so Keith couldn’t help but feel pretty okay. For now. Not forever, but now.

And Keith had to live in the now, otherwise he wouldn’t get out of bed ever again.

* * *

The first thing they decided to do was try and find Red. Trying to track his Quintessence or something magickal-bullshit that Keith didn’t understand and didn’t want to understand, or even care enough to understand.

When they found Blue, it was terrifying. Red was nowhere to be seen, in fact the only evidence of what had happened were some mangled sentries, something that looked like a net and that was thrown around, cut through in some bits.

And Keith had laughed, and Shiro had been concerned.

As everyone stumbled back to their lions, confused about what had just happened and trying to let it set in that Lance really was gone. Not the sort of temporary gone, the gone, gone. Gone forever.

Blue had opened up for Keith and he’d stumbled in, before sitting on the pilots seat. That he knew wouldn’t light up for him and it didn’t. Instead he looked at Blue, up at the ceiling and finally let his tears fall.

Finally was a strong word, he’d been crying since it happened. Just pausing in the middle to pretend that he had it together. 

“I’m sorry,” he said to Blue and Blue hummed. Keith couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing and for some reason he didn’t want to know. “I’m sorry,” he said again and kept repeating it like a mantra. 

The blue bayard was in here. Lying unused, no one had been able to pry the bayard out of Keith’s hands and Keith returned it back to Blue. “I’m sorry.” He said again, hugging himself around the middle again.

“I am so, so, so sorry.” He whispered again, and Blue hummed. This time it seemed more accepting, more gentle, more understanding of what had happened, more gentle. Like a sister. 

There had to be something he could’ve done, there was always something. So he tried to think, but couldn’t come up with anything. The only thing was yell out longer, and hold on longer. 

A gentle nudging told him to stop it. So Keith did. Twisting his hands in his lap as he looked out of the window on Blue. Before Blue fired up and Keith went to yell. A soft nudge told him that he was okay.

So Keith, for some reason believed it.

Pidge was scowling at the screen when Keith snapped out of it. There were a multitude of Red dots covering the screen. “That tricky bitch,” Pidge said, “Or tricky Galra, I don’t know.” She looked at Keith who looked back at her.

“Either, Red is sending out false signals so the Galra can’t find her. Or the Galra are throwing us off their scent and they’re doing an excellent job at it.” She cracked her knuckles and Keith winced at the sound. “I’m going to check Galra comms for anyone talking about Red. Can you check on Hunk?”

Ah. Hunk. He’d been a right old mess since— it all happened. Keith nodded, he had also been a mess, and cried so much that he’d been dehydrated and they had to stick an IV in him.

That had been awkward.

But Hunk had been even worse than the rest of him, he had the biggest heart of anyone in the team and had known Lance the longest and was his best friend, he’d been a complete mess since it happened.

Keith peered into the kitchen, where Hunk was sitting on the floor. Tears shining, he looked up at Keith. “Oh, hey man.” He sniffed loudly and Keith closed the door behind him. Before sitting on the counter.

They stayed silent for a moment.

“I hate the Galra.”

Keith almost flinched. That was a great way to start a conversation. His stomach dropped, but he still found himself nodding.

“I haven’t really hated anything before, until now. Now, I can’t wait until every last one of them who caused this is dead.” Hunk’s voice was level, and so unlike him that Keith was speechless. It was sure, a promise, not a threat, yes, Hunk was protective and Keith understood that.

He found himself hating the Galra too.

Hunk sniffed and Keith let his legs hang off the counter. “Me too,” he said and Hunk looked up at him startled. “Lance didn’t believe that all Galra are evil, but he’s wrong. They’re a threat and until they’re all dead the universe isn’t safe.”

“Why did you say Lance like that?” Hunk asked and Keith looked at him, his eyes startled.

“Like what?”

“Differently,” Hunk noted.

“Don’t dig into it.”

“I’m digging,” he said, “I have my shovel.”

“Put the shovel down.”

“I’m sticking it in the ground,” Hunk did an action which looked more like him having a jackhammer. 

“Well take it out of the ground,” Keith kicked the imaginary shovel with his foot and Hunk looked at it, as if it had fell, before looking up at Keith, like he’d just murdered someone. “There. No more digging.”

Hunk reached into his back pocket, “Pocket-sized shovel.” He pushed the shovel into the ground again and Keith audibly groaned. “I. Am. Digging.”

“Stop digging, it doesn’t matter,” Keith crossed his arms and a new wave of sadness washed over him again, he sighed. Before running a hand down his face, then brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He really needed to cut his hair, hopefully soonish too.

“You _liked_ him? Didn’t you?”

Keith didn’t reply and that was enough of an answer for Hunk.

“I knew it! You were always looking at him!” Hunk grinned.

“It doesn't matter anymore,” he snapped and Hunk’s face fell. “Sorry I—” he sighed again. 

Hunk nodded, his eyes still sad as another bout of sadness washed over them. Sometimes the moments were fine, he could get through without thinking of Lance, or without being that upset. But then sometimes randomly they’d all get upset again, and forget how to do anything. Function really.

They really were messes.

With a sniff Hunk was looking everywhere but Keith and Keith felt more guilt swirling around in his stomach, it was ugly and made him feel slightly sick. “He could be alive.”

Keith’s gaze snapped to Hunk’s. “What?”

“It just—” Hunk sighed, “You can’t tell anyone anything. It’s probably just wishful thinking,” he deflated slightly, but was still sitting up tall and proud. “Red and Lance are gone. Didn’t Red and Lance have a connection? He used your bayard or teleported it, or something ages ago?”

It hit Keith, and it felt like a bulldozer knocking through him.

“Since Red is resistant to extreme temperatures…” he trailed off. “It’s unlikely, you would’ve probably seen or heard something. Again, just wishful thinking.”

Keith nodded. But was thinking about it. 

Hunk rubbed at his eyes again, “I just miss him, I keep thinking that he’ll burst in at any moment. Talking about sharks or singing songs badly, even though he’s— he was a great singer.”

He hummed, interested and Hunk laughed. Covering his mouth as he did so, before laughing a bit harder. The first real laugh any of them had in a long time, and Keith found himself smiling at Hunk’s contagious laugh. For once it was a real smile too.

“He did theatre, and gymnastics and he was really good at both of them. He could belt like an actual broadway star, it was impressive really. At the Garrison I’d put on songs and it was a challenge to see if he could hit the notes. He would consistently hit the ‘Take On Me’ high notes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Hunk was smiling, real, if not a little nostalgic and sad. “He went higher but then he destroyed his throat and couldn’t talk for the next day, it was funny.” Keith laughed, and like Hunk’s smile was a little sad.

“One time he asked out a girl, and she was like ‘I’ll date you when you can do a backflip’ and Lance just did it. Right there and everyone was speechless, Lance walked off and Pidge and I just sat at our table.”

The door opened and Pidge popped her head through. “What are we talkin’ about?”

Keith smiled at her, “We’re telling stories about Lance.”

“Oh!” She grinned, “I have a great one,” she moved to sit on the counter next to Keith. “We all snuck out one time, and we got caught, and somehow he talked his way out of it. Just bullshitting, it was so impressive and I was so mad about it.”

Hunk straightened up, remembering something. “When Lance first came to America he went to buy some food or something, and he found out about sales tax and started crying, so I had to come over and calm him down and sort it out. For a month afterwards he just muttered about sales taxes and how dumb they were.”

Pidge grinned, “When he found out about the imperial system he closed his textbook and threw it across the room. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“The drinking age in Cuba is sixteen,” Hunk started and Keith knew that this was going to go somewhere good. “It obviously isn’t in America. So he got arrested for that, and… a teacher bailed him out. I forgot who…”

Pidge shrugged.

They stayed silent, and the sadness set in again. It seemed to be lurking around every corner, threatening to spill and swallow everything whole. Keith hated it. It had been about a week, and still, he had barely got his emotions together.

It just seemed that everyone else was dealing with it better, sure, they were also messes. But Keith felt like a significantly bigger mess than everyone else. He still cried at night, he still would sometimes get hit with nightmares and flashbacks so vivid that he had panic attacks.

Hunk was watching him. “What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

“You’re thinking… talk to us,” Pidge said, hitting him in the arm. “We’re here for each other, that’s like fifty percent of being a team, talking to each other about whatever bullshit we need to talk about.”

Keith sighed, “I haven’t been sleeping, not well. I keep on having nightmares.” The _‘about Lance’_ went unspoken and perfectly understood. “Or… flashbacks I guess? Or both. They’re bad.”

“Oh.” Pidge said, as Hunk got up. “Keith—”

Hunk hugged him, and Hunk gave the best hugs. Even if Keith would deny it until the world ended, they all knew who gave the best hugs. They were warm and comforting and you never felt out of place in his arms.

Keith leaned into his shoulder as Pidge joined in, before managing to sandwich herself in between Hunk and Keith and was smiling like a gremlin as she did it, it was strange, and Keith felt slightly uncomfortable.

But it also felt right, like the feeling of home.

A feeling Keith wasn’t very familiar with, but everyday he was in the castle it felt more and more familiar. More and more settled in his heart.

* * *

Keith had always hated the night, he’d always hated sleeping, because then he wasn’t in control of his thoughts and actions while asleep. He also had less reign on his thoughts, when he’d spent the entire day avoiding thinking about Lance, now it was all he could think about.

Lance’s sigh of resignation when he realised he had to fall, the look of longing in his eyes as he spoke about his family.

Then that look kept replaying over and over in Keith’s head, and it kept wrapping around his chest. Constricting his lungs and pressing his ribs together as Keith was trying to breathe and couldn’t breathe.

He was never a loud crier, when he did cry it was quiet. His hand was pressed to his mouth as he sat on his bedroom floor. Tears streamed as his chest heaved up and down. Pain, and he wished it wasn’t just inside of him.

An injury to match the pain he was holding inside of him.

_Breathe. You need to breathe._

Keith instead cried harder, holding his hand over his mouth tighter as if that would stop him crying. His shoulders shook as he cried more and more, and he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t breathe.

Was he going to die here? 

_Breathe Keith. Breathe._

He couldn’t, he couldn’t breathe, his lungs weren’t working, something was wrapping around his ribs and lungs, meaning that he couldn’t breathe without wheezing. Tears were still streaming and ugily as he heaved for breaths.

_Breath. You need to breathe._

But he couldn’t, so instead he wheezed, as tears rolled and as he fought the tightening in his chest.

_Lance, Lance. Lance was gone, and it’s all your fault._

Keith hiccuped ugily, before pressing his hand against his face hard enough that it turned white. Trying to stifle the tears. If Keith was the one who dropped Lance he had to live with it.

_It’s your fault._

He knew that, he knew that. Tears streamed as his chest heaved, up and down in an ugly mess of tears and the need to breathe. The need to breathe, a basic human survival instinct which he was ignoring.

_Stop crying. Stop crying._

Keith gasped, before opening his eyes and looking around his room. Unusually spotless, with the photo of the team staring straight at him. A reminded that he’d failed, Keith grabbed the closest thing next to him. A pillow. And pelted it at the photo of him and the team, it hit the ground and Keith didn’t even regret it.

_You miss him._

Duh! Of course Keith missed Lance, his stupid face, and his stupid smile and his stupid hair. How when everyone looked at him like he was terrifying and scary, Lance looked at him like he was just a person. A scared person.

He missed that.

_Lance. Lance, Lance._

His fond smile as he talked, throwing his arms about like flags. Smiling brightly, his eyes always alight and on fire. Keith made a small noise at the back of his throat as he gripped onto his thighs.

Everything. Just Lance being Lance, as stupid as he could be. He cared. He cared, and now he was gone. The light that Lance was, was gone. Forever.

He wasn’t coming home and it was Keith’s fault. Despite what the rest of them said, he’d dropped him. Keith gasped again, tears running like rivers down his face. He couldn’t do this.

_Lance. Lance, Lance, Lance._ Keith wrapped his arms around his stomach. Bending over so that his head was between his knees as he cried to the floor. Like somehow the floor could bring him back. Maybe the floor could.

It was worth a shot. Keith made a loud sobbing noise and Keith slapped his hand back over his mouth as his tears met the floor. The floor was the only proof that he was crying, the only other witness to his breakdown.

Lance was gone. So why couldn’t Keith just accept it? Why didn’t it feel real? He hiccuped again, holding at his throat willing himself to breathe, willing himself to stop crying. He didn’t care if there were marks on his throat, small crescent-mooned marks as he tried to breathe.

_Lance._

* * *

The first team-training was soon afterwards. Everyone had hauled themselves out of bed, slightly disheveled. Their clothes twisted and their hair not quite brushed right, as Keith kept sweeping his bangs out of his face.

Pidge rubbed her eyes, yawning and stretching out. Not too unlike a cat. Before looking around at all of them. Her eyes were looking for someone who wasn’t there. Keith opened his mouth to say something and minimise the damage.

“Where’s Lance?” She asked, and eyes shot to her straight away. She realised before holding a hand to her mouth, her eyes slightly wide. “Oh.”

The damage had been done. Everyone went quiet.

Shiro called the training early. It was the right call. They’d tried to fight, and train, but everyone was distracted. Hunk had zoned out and Pidge fell on her face, Shiro had called it soon after that.

Keith didn’t leave the training deck, instead he worked on strength training. So nothing like that would happen ever again. They were all throwing themselves into their various things to try and ignore everything that they could.

Pidge was scanning for Red. Hunk was cooking. Shiro was… overworking himself probably, he looked much more tired than usual, like a lot more tired than usual. Instead of part-racoon he looked like a straight up racoon.

Allura and Coran were repairing the castle, or doing updates. Or whatever they did, scouting out potential missions. Keith didn’t really know what they did and he didn’t care that much as long as it wasn’t interrupting him.

Shiro was standing in the doorway as Keith slammed his fists into the punching bag. He hadn’t been around a lot recently, he was almost absent. Which was weird, for Shiro, everyone was struggling.

But Keith had gotten way closer, the three of them all had. It was weird how that worked. Shiro hadn’t been there when everyone else was. Which seemed weird at the minimum.

“You alright?” Shiro said and Keith unwrapped his hands.

“I should be asking that to you,” he glanced up. “You haven’t been around a lot.”

Shiro’s face dropped, and Keith decided that needed to be filed away for later. “I suppose I haven’t.”

“And that’s not like you,” he unwrapped his other hand before smoothing out the bandages. “You’re our team moral, our leader. So I’m asking, what’s wrong?”

He shifted uncomfortably, “Nothing.”

“Something is wrong,” Keith concluded as he started folding the bandages. “And you’re acting weird, Hunk said he saw you wandering at night.”

“Did he?” Shiro looked actually shocked or confused at that, he glanced down at his wrist on his flesh hand, and Keith’s eyes followed. There was a bruise around his wrist and Keith wrinkled up his nose.

“What’s that from?”

“Slept funny,” Shiro gave a smile, and Keith couldn’t tell if it was real or if it was fake. “I’m fine Keith, just haven’t been sleeping well. I promise.” Keith nodded. “So… how are you?”

“As good as you reckon I am, I've been having nightmares.” He added absent-mindedly and watched for Shiro’s reaction who actually looked surprised. “Normally you’d already know that.”

Shiro walked out. Leaving Keith with as many questions as when he walked in. His eyes following the bruising around his wrist as he left. It just, it didn’t make sense. Something was up with him, maybe he was being honest.

But Keith had the sinking feeling that he wasn’t. Which led to the greater, and just as important question. What was actually happening?

* * *

Keith stopped in front of the door that led into Lance’s room. No one had been there in a week and a day. As long as he’d been missing. Pidge and Hunk had been avoiding this hallway completely, but Keith’s bedroom was in the same hallway. So he didn’t have much of a choice but to watch the door.

_You shouldn’t go in. It’s a bad idea._

He pushed the control panel to open the door which slid open with a bit of a squeak. Keith stepped into the room and the door closed behind him with a soft thud and Keith started looking.

He’d been in here before, not for very long, mainly to aggressively care about Lance. Still, the photo wall was up, none of the photos were moved. The bed was unmade still, but cold, freezing cold like it had never known warmth.

Walking over to the desk he was a piece of paper. 

_Galra:_

_-Lactose Intolerant_

_-Likes rare meat? Ew._

_-oranges are a no-go, (kiwi fruit, lemons, limes)_

_-surprisingly weak stomach_

_-can handle spice? Jealous._

The handwriting was atrocious, a messy scrawl that Keith could only read because he’d taught himself how to read Adam’s handwriting, and it was uncannily similar. Keith wanted to know why Lance’s notes were in English.

He picked up another piece of paper, which was again in English.

_Weird Spanish singing? Sounds like Mama._

That was all there was on the paper, that, the other pieces of paper were blank. Apart from some doodles of flowers, stick-men and small phrases in Spanish and English which didn’t seem like they mattered.

A book on Galra was on his desk, half open. It was a picture of teeth? Keith squinted at it before running his tongue over his teeth. Wincing as he went over his canines, okay, fair enough. He scanned down the page.

Wait? Biting someone would inject some poison into them? If they weren’t Galra. Keith just stared at the page for a while. Before snapping the book closed and shaking his head lightly. Turning around, and observing the room properly.

The blankets were still twisted and clothes were thrown, scattered all across the floor things everywhere, there were some spots on the floor without clothes and they looked like the path in and out.

One thing was folded. His jacket. It was folded and was sat on his bed. Placed there with the uttermost care. Keith walked forwards, picking up the jacket and just staring at it. He looked at the tag inside.

_Felices 17, hijo._

Keith’s eyes welled up as he realised. This was a present from his family, maybe his mom on his seventeenth birthday. He folded the jacket back up and set it on his bed. Before roaming over to the photo wall.

He’d seen them all before, most of them were of his family. But some of them were of the team, and Keith saw one that he hadn’t before and couldn’t think of when Lance took it. It was a selfie, he was in a pod, Lance and Pidge doing a peace sign either side of him. His fingers trailed over it for a second longer than it had to.

The next new photo was again, one of Keith. This time it looked like Lance had just taken it, without getting Keith’s attention or telling him. It was a photo of him, with his helmet on as he read a book.

His head looked ten times bigger in the helmet, his lip was bleeding and photo-Keith’s eyebrows were drawn into a line as he focused on the book like it held the secrets to the universe.

The next one was of Hunk, something was on fire and he was mid-scream, it was slightly blurry like Lance had been laughing when he took it and Keith found himself smiling softly at it. 

After that was one of Pidge. Asleep at her computer, hunched over as she drooled. Keith laughed at that, a soft laugh. Her laptop was full of the letter ‘t’ which she must’ve hit when she fell asleep.

Then one of Allura and him in facemasks, Lance was pulling a face at the camera and Allura was laughing. Keith again, found himself smiling at it. Allura looked actually happy there, maybe looking a bit ridiculous with a green face, her hair was tied out of her face. Lance was also looking just as ridiculous.

Keith drew his hand away from the wall. It seemed to be extending, in the middle was his family and as it went out it became more and more the team. In fact one of them was of Hunk and Lance, arms around the other’s shoulders with a birthday banner behind them.

It was all very sweet.

He walked back over to the desk and the book. Before seeing several pages which Lance had stuck little sticky-notes in to mark them. He opened up to the first page and it was about sleeping habits.

Closing it again he looked up at the ceiling. It was weird to think that Lance knew he was Galra, how long had he thought that? Was he going to say anything? It was weirder that he was reading up on Galra habits. Not that weird.

Sweet maybe?

It didn’t matter anymore anyway. Still, Keith picked up the book. He knew he was Galra, it couldn’t hurt to know about his habits and how he might be different to a human. A small voice prodded him in the back of his head.

_The team will hate you if they find out. Your kind killed Lance._

Which was why they were never going to find out. Ever. He’d die before he told them and if he told them, Hunk had said he wanted every Galra dead. He was part of every. It didn’t seem safe to tell them.

Keith didn’t want to leave, he liked it here and was sick of running away. So he wasn’t going to, he was just going to suppress a part of himself and pray they never found out.

It seemed like a metaphor.

He snorted, being gay wasn’t anywhere near being the same as being part of a murdering, evil, race. Not even remotely. If Lance was here he’d probably give him some motivation to say more. Maybe actually tell them.

Lance was on his side, and even if everything went horribly wrong Lance would’ve been there to calm everyone down or keep Keith safe or… something. But he wasn’t here anymore, and Keith was on his own when it came to this.

Completely and utterly alone.

He was surrounded by people and felt alone in that regard.

Slowly he picked up the jacket again, before sliding it over his shoulders and hugging it to himself. Wishing that Lance was here to do anything, help, help him talk about being Galra. Like hugging his jacket would be remotely the same as Lance being here.

_This is why we fight for ourselves._

Keith took off the jacket, folding it back up and tucking the Galra book under his arm. 

He peeked out of the door, he didn’t want anyone to see him taking a book on the Galra. Or coming out of his dead friend’s room he saw no one nearby and walked back to his room. Slamming the book on his desk and just staring at it.

Before sliding the book underneath his bed instead of leaving it where everyone could see it. If anyone saw it he had a lot of explaining to do, explaining that Keith would rather avoid if he could.

It was quiet, and Keith liked that, quiet meant that he could think. Weigh over all the options of deciding whether or not it was worth it, he stared up at the roof. Not thinking anything in particular, just staring.

No one knocked and asked to come in.

No one liked coming down this hallway. Keith didn’t mind it.

Like usual his thoughts travelled to Lance, whether he was really dead or alive. It was a question that he had given his late-night thoughts to. Normally the conclusion was no, tonight wouldn’t be different.

Guilt and sadness were swelling in his guts. He’d dropped Lance. No matter what anyone else said, it was his fault and no matter what anyone else said, he had dropped Lance. 

Now he had to live with that.

For the rest of his life. Keith sighed and rolled over, burying his face into the pillow shaking his head as he did it. He needed to stop thinking of Lance. That wouldn’t do anything, it wouldn’t bring him back.

Tears were spilling already and Keith slapped his hands onto his face when he rolled over. “Stop it.” He said to the roof. “Stop it.” He didn’t stop it, tears streamed harder. “Stop thinking of him.”

_Lance, Lance, Lance._ His thoughts supplied for him. _Lance Charles McClain._

* * *

_Starlight, starbright._

Keith sat up in his bed, the noise was the lullaby his pops used to sing. When he was young, running a hand through his hair and Keith would stare up at the stars as he did so.

_First star I see tonight._

He looked around, his eyelids felt heavier for some reason.

_I wish I may. I wish I might._

When he was little he always wished for his mom back. Which never came true, this time he wished to go to sleep and never wake up. Neither of them had happened so Keith wasn’t scared.

_Have this wish I wish tonight._

So he closed his eyes, pretending that his pops was still here. Running a hand through his hair as Keith stared at the stars. Bright and twinkling like nothing else he’d ever known. Now he hated space.

* * *

It was purple. That was the only way Keith could describe it, purple in every direction. A solid block colour, stretching out as far as the eye could see. There were no differentiations, the only thing a different colour was white and blue.

Keith ran in that direction. Sure enough, Lance rolled on his side. His eyes closed, his shoulder was bleeding and the boot of his armour looked a bit melted but it was Lance.

This was a dream.

A cruel dream.

Still, Keith shook Lance. “Wake up!” He yelled. “Wake up! Lance!” He shook harder and Lance made a noise. “Lance, get up! Get up!” He prodded Lance with his foot. Who just hummed.

There was a blue flash and Keith sat up in his bed, panting as his chest heaved. What? He looked down at his shaking hands. What just happened? Was that a dream? With a shuddering breath which seemed to get stuck in his throat, he lied back down.

What was that?

All he could see when he closed his eyes was the unblinking, unmoving eyes of Lance. Prying him away from any sleep.

What was happening to him?

* * *

The first thing he saw was red. Red everywhere. Lance groaned, after all he’d been through, after he’d done for this dumb universe, he was still going to Hell? His Mama would need to take that fight up with God himself, and she probably would too.

With a hum he sighed, deciding he’d need to figure out how best to deal with his eternal damnation. There was a whirring, like a low hum, almost like a cat purring loudly. Lance sighed, before relaxing into the ground.

He rolled onto his back and was met with the ceiling of Red. 

“What the fuck?” He said, sitting up straight away. “Oh, fuck, joder, fuck, what the fuck, shit, que carajo.” He looked around.

Red. He was in Red’s cockpit. The only problem, he didn’t know how to control Red! That was Keith’s thing— Keith.

Everything came back to him in a painful flash and Lance audibly gasped, before covering his mouth and shaking his head, grabbing his helmet and trying to contact the team. Only to be met with static and silence.

“Que carajo?” Lance exclaimed to Red. “Llévame a casa!”

He needed to go, he couldn’t be… wherever he was.

Red just hummed, softly and without kindness. Somehow without saying anything she said everything. They were on the outskirts of the known universe, Red was broken and her Quintessence was exhausted, his team was in another quadrant.

Lance was on his own.

“No, no!” He stomped his foot on the ground. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to drive you, I don’t have a bayard…” he paused as his mind confirmed that fact. “I’m weaponless!”

Red hummed, in a way that was supposed to be comforting, Lance was sure. Instead Lance took off his helmet and threw it. 

Then panic set in, his team thought he was dead. He should’ve been dead. Why wasn’t he dead? It didn’t make sense, he fell into lava. Nothing could’ve saved him, it didn’t make sense. A purring cut him off.

_Oh._ Red, the fire-resistant lion. The lion that spat fire. She’d saved him. Which led to another, just as confusing question.

“Why?” He asked up to Red. “What the fuck, now Keith has lost you and thinks I’m dead. He must be freaking out! Oh God, the team has to be freaking out, right?” The last word had more doubt than truth. “Yeah, they would be. Oh fuck, oh fuck, I need to contact them! How the fuck?”

Lance paused. “Wait… Keith said not to move unless he was dying?”

_I interpreted that as any of my paladins,_ Red replied, and Lance actually fell over, smashing his face against the floor before looking up at the ceiling.

“What?”

Red sighed and Lance felt the tiredness. But she didn’t say anything, the lions didn’t speak much. Mainly more to the point and general feelings rather than solid complete phrases. More abstract.

“Holy shit!” Lance threw his arms up in the air. “Holy shit! You’re saying, that little ol’ me? Lancey is the red and blue paladin? Wait, so many questions, so many questions. Which you’re not going to answer—” Red agreed.

Lance sighed before throwing himself in the pilot seat.

_The smaller one is in great distress._

His heart clenched at that and he drew his legs to his chest. Hugging them, as he stared out the window. He was going to start getting it together soon, fix Red, find somewhere to land and someway to contact his friends.

Right now he just needed a quiet moment to himself. To stare out at space, as expansive and terrifying as it was. It was strangely comforting. Something was nudging at the side of his brain which Lance ignored.

Space was just so… big and that alone took Lance’s breath away.

He still needed to find a way to get the stars to Veronica. If he wasn’t dying, she needed a dying star core. At the minimum. Something nudged at his mind again and Lance whirled around in his chair.

“Yes, Red?”

_You have work to do._

He sure did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's baaaaaaaaack! Most of you guessed that Lance was alive, and y'all were correct. I do not have the strength to kill off a character. While this chapter was basically Keith's then next chapter is Lance's. Then one more Keith, then one more Lance. Then we're done!
> 
> I added two scenes to this last minute, Keith having a panic attack / meltdown. Because I wanted to show that he's still suffering big time, and the whole purple-thing. Which I now love, and I'm going to double down on the vague concept in my head.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry this came out way later than I said it would. The US election has got me really anxious and I am s c a r e d, so I got really anxious and I kinda went on shutdown mode... which is weird, because I don't even live in the US? There will be an update soonish I promise


	2. One Way To Get Your Friends Attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance lands on a strange planet with one objective. Find a way to contact his friends, and because Lance is the most dramatic person in the quadrant. He decides on an... interesting method.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some swearing, but it's me. So you probably expect that by now. Some terrible flirting and Lance being panicky. Enjoy!

Lance still only had minimal movement in his injured arm. So fixing up Red was difficult. He’d taken out a panel, his armour was in a pile in the back, cargo bit. Which did have a weird mattress that Lance didn’t want to think too hard about.

Or the weird stains.

He shuddered as he pulled at something and Red made a noise of alarm and Lance scrambled to plug that back in. Before walking back to the control panel and running another diagnostic.

_ I am sick of saving my paladins.  _ Red purred and Lance hit her in the side, before Red threw him off his feet.  _ How many times have I saved you both?  _ Lance didn’t respond, just looking at the screen as the results popped up.

It was her side, Lance was right. But it didn’t specify any more than her left side. Lance considered it being her temperature regulator, since she’d essentially swum through lava and now was out in freezing space.

When Red hummed approvingly Lance sighed and scrambled back over to the side. Ducking back underneath, before popping back out and glancing at the diagnostics before diving back into the side.

Finally he managed to find the temperature regulator, which was slightly pushed out of its place and Lance pushed it back into place and Red shuddered and it got a lot warmer. He hadn’t even realised that he was that cold.

Lance proceeded to flop against the floor. He must’ve spent quintants doing that, Red hummed happily and Lance nudged her side with his foot. Glaring.

“Hope you’re happy you hunk of metal.”

She lurched to the side sending Lance flying. “Oh fuck you!” He yelled back before being thrown the other direction. “You really are just Keith embodied,” and Red threw his around again.

Lance eventually was allowed to stand up, with only a few more bruises than he had before. He looked at the armour pile in the corner, before walking up to the screen. Trying to figure out where he really was.

Where was he? Where really was he?

There was just nothing nearby. Not even the slightest bush that was alive.

How was he supposed to contact his team when he didn’t know where he was? He was floating out in the middle of nowhere. He hummed, furrowing his eyebrows before bringing up another map.

His screen was currently just maps.

He got out the map of the known universe, before trying to find. Yuxo? That was the name of the planet he fell on. Right? He brought the map of Yuxo in relation to the universe. He spinned around the planet.

Trying to find where he fell. Then he did, a lava pit next to a cave. His chest constricted at that but he ignored it. Then he found where they left Blue and Red… Blue. He hadn’t even considered her.

Was she alright?

What was happening with her?

“Red? Is Blue alright?”

A low hum was his answer and Lance was content with that answer. Before drawing a straight line, from where they were left. To the lava pit and then using that trajectory continued the line as far as it would go.

Then he brought up the bigger map and drew that same line, before crossing his arms with a hum. He was somewhere on that line, or around there at least. He hummed, crossing his arms as he spun in his seat.

The closest planet was one called... Dubux. He looked at that, his eyebrows furrowing at it. It was in Galra control, but it was the only thing remotely close. The next planet would be a few days fly away, and Lance didn’t have a few days worth of water to spare.

He opened another screen, not bothering to clean off the ones he was using. At the Garrison he did this, opening a million books and scattering papers and pens everywhere. Hunk found it infuriating, Pidge found it easier to find stuff that way.

Hunk and Pidge… his stomach swooped. If they really thought he was dead, and they had no reason to believe otherwise. His heart clenched and he ran a hand down his face. He needed to fix this. He needed to fix this as soon as he could.

How soon would that be?

Instead of thinking about it he started trying to tap into signals from Dubux.

_ “Overthrow the Galra _ —”

Lance actually threw his arms up in the air, before thanking every heavenly being that he could think of the Dubux was here.

_ “Replace them with the rightful Queen.” _

Then Lance has an idea. It was a dumb idea, it would be so dramatic and needlessly so when he could probably find a way to contact them there. Although, if they’re under Galra control— then not.

He cracked his knuckles before smiling.

It was dramatic. But Lance was Cuban, it was his thing. With a snicker Lance looked up at the ceiling. “Red. Looks like we’re helping a rebellion.”

Red sighed. It wasn’t an actual word, but if it could be a word it would probably be, ‘ _ for fuck’s sake’ _ .

* * *

“You look like death,” Pidge noticed. “You dying on us?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Keith managed, before sipping at the brown sludge that Shiro said was coffee, before spitting it out. He could not drink coffee, he hated the taste of it. He shuddered. “I had a weird dream.”

“Lance weird?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah… it was purple, and then he was just lying there and I shook him awake,” Keith shrugged. “At least it wasn’t him falling.” He sipped again and winced at the taste. “Do we have more sugar?”

“You used it all,” Hunk deadpanned. “We have some milk stuff.”

“I’m lactose intolerant,” Keith replied and Pidge and Hunk looked at him. So they didn’t know that then. “Shiro used to get me proper milkshakes when his fiancé wasn’t around,” he smiled at the memory.

Allura walked out, looking as fancy and put together as she usually did. “What does that mean?”

“He can’t have dairy,” Pidge supplied with a wave of her hand.

“I can, I just cough and sneeze a lot. And get stomach aches,” Keith looked at Pidge who looked back with the same amount of ferocity.

“Okay, okay, enough eye daggers.” Hunk said and Allura nodded approvingly. “Too early for that.”

Allura was looking at Keith, “Are you alright? You look like a jerpo.”

“A what?” Keith asked.

“Altean racoon,” Pidge supplied, “They have giant black markings around their eyes.” Keith nodded at the translation.

“Just having some bad dreams ‘Lura, it’s nothing,” he gave a half-hearted smile before chugging the rest of his brown sludge wincing as he drank it. Allura looked skeptical. “I’m fine, well not fine, but y’know.”

* * *

Red landed smoothly, and Lance hid her in a cave straight away. Packing his armour away, the bottom of his left boot was slightly melted anyway, it was a compromise. The air Dubux was breathable by human standards anyway. Which he was grateful for.

“Okay Red, you need to stay here.”

With a noise of protest Lance put his hand on her side. “I can’t risk you getting captured. You’re tired, and drained completely. You won’t be able to fight back.”

She disagreed, tipping so Lance went sprawling to the floor. Red was exactly like Keith, he could now see clear as day why she chose him. Why she chose Lance though, was something he still didn’t quite understand.

“Fine. If I’m in trouble you can come out. But keep your shield up every other time. Don’t let it down unless I come back or am in trouble. Or another paladin of Voltron. How’s that for a compromise?”

Finally she agreed and Lance sighed gratefully. Before bringing up his map, he decided he needed his gauntlet at least, to bring up a map and for lights and stuff. It wouldn’t look that weird, lots of bounty hunters and general people had gauntlets.

He clicked that on over his undersuit. It wasn’t the most practical outfit, it was torn at his shoulder and it was slightly charred at his foot. He was fine. Red opened for him and he turned around. Giving a salute to her.

_ Buena suerte.  _ Red purred and Lance took a double take, before turning around and bringing up his map. The closest town wasn’t that far, but far enough away that no one would accidentally stumble upon Red.

He started through the dusty sand, kicking it up behind him walking until he saw lights. Sighing and putting his gauntlet down, following the lights. 

The houses were made out of rock and brick and wood. Some were falling apart, others were sturdier. He needed a public area, like a pub or restaurant or something. There was a sign, which Lance’s gauntlet translated to be a pub.

Perfect.

He swung open the door and stepped in. It was empty, several tables were scattered around, with chairs which were more like stools around them. There were various wooden eating utensils on the table.

More shockingly was another boy, about his age. With skin darker than his and swirling patterns on his cheeks. His hair was black, with tinges of green which matched his eyes, the exact shade.

They stared at each other for a beat.

Before the boy lunged with a spiky looking thing. 

Lance didn’t hesitate before yanking the weapon out of his hands, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. Placing his other hand on the back of his neck and slamming him onto the table.

The position was awkward. But Lance had bigger worries than that. “Okay. I need a few things. Medical help, food, and to know why the fuck you came at me with a weapon.”

He didn’t say anything and Lance pulled his arm up slightly. He yelped and Lance just scowled. He didn’t say anything, and Lance yanked harder. He let out a loud yelling noise and Lance heard scrambling and doors opening.

Then about twenty people filed out from the back of the bar. All with red bands around their wrists. A woman, or at least what Lance assumed was a woman stepped to the front. She had similar markings, her skin was the same colour, except her eyes were grey and her hair was interlaced with grey.

She looked at the boy. “Is this the second time I’ve walked in on you—”

“No!” He yelled, “He’s actually hurting me!”

She glared. “Let go of my son.”

Lance didn’t move. 

Then there were several guns pointed at him.

This was not how he was expecting today to go.

\---

The next team training was more successful than the first. He was blindfolded and made to go through a maze that shocked you. Hunk was his partner, and Keith stepped where he was told. Turned and ducked.

Then Shiro decided that was a fluke and made Pidge direct him. Again, Keith and her absolutely destroyed it. Keith didn’t get shocked once, even when Coran attempted to make it harder. He pulled off the blindfold with a huge cheeky grin directed at Shiro.

Shiro was sputtering and generally speechless. Keith just pat him on the arm as he walked past. Standing between Hunk and Pidge who were snickering. Allura also seemed amused, although she was hiding it better.

“Very well done paladins,” she said, glancing at Shiro and her smile quirked a little more. “I remember not too long ago when you wouldn’t get through that when Shiro was directing you.” Keith smiled at her and she laughed softly.

Then Keith and Shiro were sparring. Hunk and Pidge were sparring and Allura was walking around, correcting postures and showing off pressure points and potential moves. Keith knew how to fight Shiro, it was easier than everyone thought.

Yes, he was a better fighter, but he got distracted. Tease him a little about Adam and he was a flustered mess who forgot the difference between a right hook and a front kick. It was both funny and endearing.

“So,” Keith ducked a blow. “One time when I was with Adam—”

Shiro stopped mid-punch and Keith kicked him in the knee and Shiro went down. Before holding him down as Shiro fought to get up. Keith was winning though, and Shiro eventually gave up before Keith clambered off of him.

“You’re ruthless,” Shiro said, smoothing his hair down. “One day that won’t work.”

“Then that’s the day you call the engagement off,” Keith deadpanned.

“The engagement’s already been called off. I’m apparently dead.”

“Not according to Adam,” Keith sung and Shiro swiped at him. Keith ducked away and cackled as Shiro chased after him. Keith grabbed Allura’s shoulders and put her between Shiro trying to grab him. “If you want me, you have to go through Allura.”   
  


Allura nodded. Crossing her arms. “I’d like to see you try.”

Shiro backed off and Keith smiled, before looking at Pidge and Hunk who were also smiling. Keith walked over and Hunk winked at him. “So Allura?” He said and Pidge looked at him like he was the single biggest idiot ever.

Keith sighed. Pidge facepalmed.

“Hunk, I’m gay.”

“Huh?”

“I am a homosexual,” he said slowly, like he was speaking to a child. “When a boy likes another boy, they’re gay… well when a boy only likes boys he’s a homosexual. I am that boy.”

Hunk’s mouth fell open and Pidge facepalmed. “I thought you were bi,” Hunk defended and Keith looked up at the roof, asking the lord for strength before he pummeled this heterosexual into the ground.

“I am not.”

Allura gasped, clapping her hands together. “Is this your calling?” She said excitedly, her eyes sparkling and was met with a few confused looks. “What do you humans call it? Shiro, what do you call it? Your calling.”

Shiro twisted up his face. “Coming out?”

“Yes!” She turned back around to Pidge, Hunk and Keith. “Coming out,” she said proudly. “In Altean culture it’s a huge deal, when the individual calls out— comes out to the world they have a huge party, with food. It’s amazing.” Her eyes were wistful and Keith didn’t want to tell her that he’d been out for years.

Pidge and him exchanged a look. “That seems… nice Allura,” Keith started with. “But I came out, or had my calling when I was…” he looked at Shiro. “Like twelve? This isn’t a new thing,” he said with a slightly apologetic smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” She deflated, “That’s alright. I just miss it sometimes, Altean culture, celebrations. But that is to be expected.” She smiled again slightly sadly, and Coran’s face was the same. “I will celebrate a calling if it’s the last thing I do.”

Now Keith was scared.

* * *

Lance did not expect his day to end up with him tied to a chair (not in a fun way, in an interrogation way) with something sharp pointed at his throat, as a woman with grey eyes and hair asked questions.

“Who are you?”

Name, he needed a name really quickly and he’d already taken too long and now he was taking even longer, so he decided to stay quiet and the sharp spear looking thing drew a speck of blood.

So they were not playing around then. Okay, cool, cool.

“Vance,” he lied. It was close enough. “I’m a past bounty hunter, me and my group go around rebelling against Galra. We were split up, and I need a way to get them here. Helping with a rebellion seems like a perfect way to do that.”

The woman glanced at the boy from earlier who shrugged. “And why should we believe you?”

“Why shouldn’t you, why would I lie?”

“To infiltrate our ranks.”

“If I really wanted to infiltrate your ranks I’d be more subtle than storming into what was apparently a secret meeting and beating up your son,” Lance said, eyeing the spear. If they could just move that, that would be fantastic. Ideal. More adjectives. “Look if I really wanted to infiltrate your ranks I’d kill a general or something and impersonate them, I’m really just trying to help.”

The woman eyed him suspiciously. “You know a lot about how to infiltrate for someone who’s claiming they’re not infiltrating.” She said and the boy nodded enthusiastically next to her and Lance just groaned.

“Joder,” he muttered. “Okay idiots, I’m trying to help you. I don’t need to be here, I have much better things to be doing. There are Galra cargo ships which I could take out and that’ll do more than a dent than your dumb rebellion.”

The boy frowned but Lance didn’t care.

“I’m here. If I was infiltrating I wouldn’t be doing this in the worst way possible and if I was working with the Galra they’d already have enough evidence to get you arrested or worse put you in the arena,” he stared at them blankly. “Since the Galra aren’t knocking on your door I am not a spy, so can you untie me and get the sharp stick out of my face.”

Neither of them said anything and Lance sighed, before his gauntlet activated and a small laser cut the rope apart, he brought his hands in front of him and rubbed his wrists. The boy brought the spear back to hit and Lance threw up his arm. The armour on one part of his arm protected him and he kicked the boy in the knee.

The spear clattered to the ground which Lance kicked up to himself and held it. Both of them stared at him. He was still sitting in the chair, looking slightly bored. He threw the spear at the ground and stared up at the two of them.

“Are you done yet?” 

They looked shocked for a moment and Lance rolled his eyes, pushing past the both of them and ending up in the back room. Where everyone had red ribbons tied around their wrists and they looked at him. Ready to fight.

Lance sighed, “I do not want to take all eighteen of you on,” he sighed. “Can you just put your weapons down and accept that I’d be useful here.”

“Why should we let you join, here is for the generals,” someone spat at him and Lance ignored the urge to punch them in the face. Had he always been this impulsive? Or was it a new thing. “You aren’t a general.”

“Sentries have patterns they patrol and fight in, every two dobashes there is a new wave. That means that there’s a two minute window in a fight where you have to get each wave down, which is a bit of a hassle but knowing makes it easier. Patrolling they have a certain pattern too, and there are thirty ticks between each station where no one can see you sneaking around.”

Lance cracked his knuckles, “All the layout of Galra ships are uniform, and I’ve memorised cargo ships, fighter ships and civilian ships. So I have that and I’m assuming none of you have even been in a Galra ship, let alone fought any Galra, correct me if I’m wrong.”

No one corrected him and Lance facepalmed. “Let me get this straight, you’re planning to lead a take back of your planet, from the Galra, and none of you have ever fought Galra?”

The boy from earlier, with the green eyes and the black hair that had strands of green interlaced through it. “Yeah,” and eyes darted to him.

“I’d quiznaking hope so,” Lance muttered, he turned back to the group. “All sentries have a basic design and if you get them through the chest they’re basically as good as a hunk of metal. Their command system is flawed, basically someone is in charge here, and messages go through three other people before they go to Zarkon. That means a fast attack is the best way to do it.”

He was met with several dumb looks. If Keith was here he’d be yelling at them, and wow, did Lance want to yell. But he didn’t because he needed to keep his cool.

“Anyone who is remotely Galra can get through most security, a sentry hand also does that, so an easy way is to cut off a sentries hands. For the actual generals who are Galra they haven’t had a lot of real combat, they just know the theory, so you fight dirty against them.”

Everyone stared at him, shocked.

A beat.

“How do you know all of that?” The woman with grey eyes asked, “Unless you’re—”

“I’ve fought Galra,” Lance snapped, “That’s why I know. I’m an ex-bounty-hunter, and now I do this,” he gestured wildly around the room. “It’s basically my job,” he almost smiled at that but managed to keep his face calm. “Now have I convinced you all I’m not going to murder you in the middle of the night?”

Everyone stayed silent. “Dios mio!” He said to the roof, before looking back on the uncertain eyes. “If I was trying to take you down or something I wouldn’t have told you half of that stuff because then you can’t sneak around and stuff, I literally just snatched a weapon out of his,” he gestured at the boy his age. “Hands and could’ve killed your leader and whoever the boy is.”

“Lulio,” the boy said firmly.

“Okay,” Lance said dismissively before spinning back around to the group who all looked shocked, and confused. He turned back around at Lulio and his mom. “Am I missing something here?”

“Is that how you talk to a prince?” Someone said.

“Wait…” it caught up. “Lulio is a prince. Let me get this straight, I slammed a prince down on a table, almost broke his arm and then proceeded to dismiss him,” he paused for a moment, before looking at Lulio who looked amused. “Of course I did.”

Lulio laughed loudly, and it was a bright laugh, which Lance immediately found himself drawn to. Everyone else was exchanging nervous looks, unsure if they were supposed to be laughing or not. Lulio laughed louder before looking at Lance.

His stomach swooped.

That was weird.

Lance’s eyes stayed on Lulio for a moment longer before he turned around and looking at everyone with a sigh. “Does that mean his mom is the queen?”

“Yup,” Lulio said, his smile wide and his eyes bright. “Good job.”

“It’s late,” his mom said, “Find Vance somewhere to sleep.” She looked at Lance with cold grey eyes.

Lulio grinned and gestured for Lance to follow, which he did, behind to the back of the pub. Where there were stairs made out of wood which creaked as the pair of them climbed up it. Revealing a small hallway with three doors.

He didn’t hesitate to keep walking towards a door in front of them, before opening it to reveal a room which was tiny. There was a bed, some blankets bundled on the floor and red ribbon tied to the bed.

Lulio laughed, almost awkwardly, before nudging a pile of knives, spears and guns under his bed. “Don’t worry about those,” he kicked a gun which was sticking out and smiled like a goof. Leaving Lance to just stare.

“Um.”

“You take the bed,” Lulio said, before picking up a bundle of blankets in his arms. “We’ll get you medical attention in the morning.”

Lance didn’t argue, and was asleep before he hit the blankets.

\---

It was… purple? Purple everywhere, on every surface, with no change in colour, just a plane reaching out as far as possible in every direction. There was something red, standing in the far distance.

  
  


Lance squinted, holding his hand up to his eyes, shielding his eyes and trying to let his eyes focus on the red and white thing across the, whatever this place was. Trying to see what the blur was.

It was silent for a moment.

“Lance?” A voice yelled and Lance realised that it was Keith.

“Keith?” He called back. There was swearing and the blur came closer and closer, slowly becoming Keith, with his ugly mullet and vampire-like skin. Red armour clinking as Lance started running too.

He was met in the middle, with arms around his neck. Before Keith pulled away and held Lance at arms length. “This is a dream,” he put his hand on Lance’s cheek, “You’re not here.” He put his arm down.

“I think I’m here,” Lance looked down at his hands, he had his paladin armour on. How did that happen? “Well you’re the dream, you’re off in some other quadrant?”

“Where are you then?” Keith asked, and he looked worried, it was playing against every feature on his face. “Please…”

Lance opened his mouth, the word Dubux on the tip of his tongue. But nothing came out, his lips moved but it was like his throat had stopped making noises, he opened up his mouth again and he didn’t say anything. Keith looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“I can’t say it, where are you?”

Keith opened his mouth, and moved his lips but no words came out. His eyes shot wide open as he tried again. “What?” He whispered, before looking at Lance, his eyes impossibly soft and kind. “Lance… is this a dream?”

“Um,” he looked around, “Kinda feels like it, I mean, probably.” He shrugged and Keith just looked at him, brushing his mullet out of his face. “Maybe? But if this is a dream, you’re a pretty good person to dream about.”

“What— Lance,” Keith rolled his eyes, “Just… this might be a dream, if it isn’t, are you safe?”

“Relatively,” he replied, “If this is a dream I’m in some prince’s bed.”

Keith spluttered all over again and Lance felt his face heat up, “Not like that, no, nope, absolutely not. I am straighter than a ruler.”

“One of those bendy ones?”   
  


“I’m straight,” Lance crossed his arms and glared. “So basically, I think this royal family got overthrown by the Galra and now they’re leading a fight back against them. But currently Lulio — the prince lives in a bar. It seems kinda weird, and then his mother, who is the queen. Was like, give him somewhere to sleep, so I am in his bed. Not in a weird way.”

“Weird?” Keith prompted, his eyebrow quirking.

“Ugh,” and Keith laughed at him, his eyes were bright and he walked forwards before throwing his arms around Lance and hugging him like the world was ending, or that they’d never see each other again.

Maybe they wouldn’t. Lance realised, and his stomach dropped a little before he hugged back just as tightly, holding his friend. Lance wanted to say something, anything, tell Keith that he was alright, or that the Earth would keep rotating no matter what.

Instead they stayed quiet, in a quiet embrace. Which felt more like something that people who hadn’t seen each other in lifetimes did. Not a week or so.

Lance smiled at Keith, before ruffling his hair. Keith opened his mouth to say something, before closing it and smiling. It didn’t reach his eyes. “See you,” Lance said with a grin.

“Bye.”

* * *

Keith knew nothing about the dream had the slightest bit of truth sewn into it.

Lance was gone and it was Keith's fault. 

Red wasn't gone.

Red was still out there and Keith needed to find him.

* * *

“There,” Amori, Lulio’s mom said, putting the remaining healing cream on his arm, where it sizzled into his skin and Lance lifted his arm above his head, before spinning it around. Only a small ache was there and Lance sighed at that.

“Way better,” Lance said with a smile, moving all his fingers. “Thanks,” he smiled as Lulio put a plate in front of him and sat next to Amori. Her grey eyes and his green boring into Lance. 

“So,” Lulio started, taking a bite out of whatever he was eating, and Lance didn’t want to think too hard about it otherwise he’d be terrified and probably feel very sick. “You don’t exactly blend in here,” he gestured to his undersuit, which he was still wearing. “You don’t have any markings, and those clothes scream that you fell out of an escape pod and stumbled into here.”

“Correct,” Amori added, not exactly being the most helpful. “May I ask, why is there something Galra about the way you fight? I’ve seen Galra generals fight, and your style is similar to lots.”

She was suspicious, again. Which was great.

_ Keith.  _ His mind supplied for him. Keith was the reason his hand-to-hand was vaguely Galran. Maybe he didn’t even know that he fought like that, Lance didn’t know he fought like that. Instead he tilted his head at her. “Huh?” He said through a mouthful of food. “Whaddya mean?”

“Your stances,” she gestured at Lance with what appeared to be Dubux’s equivalent of a chopstick. “Your dodges, I’d say mainly your stances. It’s a bit wider than most—”

“Galra have a lower centre of gravity,” Lance finished and Amori narrowed her eyebrows at him. “Much lower, which is why their stances are out. I don’t owe you an answer, I think I’ve proven myself.”

And he had.

But Lulio was looking at him like  _ that  _ his eyes were soft, almost pleading and Lance had not realised how pliant he was. Because Lance’s mind at that moment was going:  _ Error 404 Page Not Found. _

Lance coughed before sighing, “Maybe I’ve had some training with Galra.”

“You were in the arena?” Lulio said, almost bouncing on his feet and Amori smacked him in the arm. 

“No. But I know people who were,” which seemed like a settled answer which relaxed the tension in Amori’s shoulders. “I’m not a hand-to-hand guy, I’m a sniper, so I was trained by two people who fought Galra a lot and so, I suppose they subconsciously copied their style?” He said and Lulio grinned.

“Can you teach me how to shoot a gun?”

“What?” Lance just looked at him. “How long until we launch the invasion?” He looked at Amori who sighed.

“A week.”

“I can not teach you how to shoot a gun in a week,” Lance scraped off the last of the food off of his plate. “Also, we do not have that much free time. Amori’s going over the plan for the first time tonight and it may not be… right.”

Amori scowled but didn’t say anything otherwise.

Lulio scowled, before rolling his eyes, “Okay, we need to fix up your face,” he gestured to Lance’s face with his chop-stick looking thing. 

“Hey! I have a great face.”

“You do,” Lulio said and Amori sighed. “It’s a very nice face.”

“What—”

“But it doesn’t look like a face that you’d find on Dubux, you’re already going to draw attention because you’re beautiful but you at least need markings on your face,” Lulio said, and while Lance was still reeling from the first comment his brain caught up with the second comment.

Amori raised an eyebrow, “Why are you going red?”

“Huh?” Lulio said, “Oh! Cool!” and the swirling patterns on his cheeks started to become a faint red too.

“Okay, that’s enough of that. Lulio, find Vance some clothes. I’ll find the paint.”

Lulio nodded and got up, taking Lance’s plate from him and Amori sighed as he walked out to the back of the bar. “I’m sorry about him, but I don’t think you mind too much.” Lance felt his face get even hotter and sunk down in his stool.

She gave a wink, before walking out of the back of the bar, the stairs squeaking as she went. Lance held his face between his hands. “Oh God,” he muttered to himself, looking up at the roof. “Oh. My. God.”

He took a few moments to come to terms with what had just happened before running a hand down his face and hunching over the table. “Ah,” he whispered into the table. “Holy shit.”

The stairs squeaked again and Lulio came down, a bundle of clothes in his arms and a huge smile on his face. Lulio put them on the table, before looking at Lance. “They might be a bit small, because I’m smaller than you,” he shrugged. “But they should fit alright.”

“These aren’t gonna be princey clothes, right?” Lance asked and Lulio laughed, shaking his head as he did so.

“I’ve only been a prince for six Deca-Phoebe's out of the sixteen in my life, I barely remember being a prince, Ma’s more royal than me,” he shrugged, “No. They’re not princey clothes.”

He gestured to Lance’s undersuit, “That looks like pj’s.”

“Hey!”

Amori came out next, with a pot with brown paint, which looked a smidgen darker than Lance’s skin and stared at him, her cold eyes meeting his. She had a piece of paper with her and put it on the table.

It had a bunch of different markings, painted on the paper first. Which was torn and furled at the edges, slightly yellowing and Lance looked at it before at Amori who rolled her eyes. “Choose one.”

Lance looked down at them, lots of them were complicated and confusing. But there was one, which were just dots on his face. Not dots, spots which were kind of like freckles. He pointed to that one and Amori nodded.

Before painting the dots on his face, the paint was cool against his skin and it dried weirdly. He could feel it cracking, but it didn’t, it stayed together and Lance was somehow even more curious about that. Amori didn’t take long before putting the paintbrush or equivalent down and Lance had to ignore Lulio’s eyes on him.

He picked up the bundle of clothes and scrambled back into Lulio’s room. As he put on the clothes, he kept checking to see if he smudged the facepaint on his cheeks. Apparently he did not.

The clothes were like Lulio’s, a tunic and loose fitting pants. Which on Lance were a bit tighter than he wanted. Both of the items of clothing were tightish, hit tunic was a faded blue and his pants were brown.

The shoes didn’t fit, but Lance had seen plenty of people walking around bare-footed and assumed that it would be fine. He came down the stairs, holding his arms out before strutting like he was a model.

“The pants are a bit tight.”

“Don’t worry, you can get into mine,” Lulio said casually and Lance needed a hot second to not spontaneously combust. He gave a short shrug and Lance rolled his eyes instead of doing something equally stupid. “You look Dubaxan though.”

“Thanks?”

Amori nodded approvingly. “He’s right,” she stood up, looking at him how Pidge looked at her computer coding. “You do look very Dubaxan, it’s impressive frankly. You’re barely disguised but I barely recognise you.”

“He’s holding himself different,” Lulio noted, his arms crossed. “Before he was more hunched. Now he’s more upright, his arms are by his side and very straight.” 

Lance tried to relax but something about being in these clothes didn’t let him. Lulio just laughed and waved his hand, as Lance pulled a face at him. “It’s impressive,” Amori said. “Things like that come in useful.”

He just shrugged and Lulio laughed at him again.

Okay. So maybe Lance was a bit less straight than he thought.

* * *

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Why were you staring at the knife?” Hunk asked slowly. 

“Just zoned out,” Keith said, but his voice couldn’t even carry any emotion in it.

* * *

“The markets,” Lulio said proudly, spinning around between all the stalls. “Where we can find you some shoes, maybe something a bit warmer. It’s freezing.”

Lance was sweating. 

“You’re not cold?”

“No. It’s hot,” Lance fanned himself with his hands.

“Different temperature differences,” Lulio remarked, “Or how we perceive them, that’s cool.”

Lance nodded as Lulio looked around, “You have weird feet.”

“What? My feet are normal.”

“They’re long,” he looked down at Lance’s feet. Which were perfectly average, thank you very much. 

“You have Hobbit feet.”

“A who?”

“Nevermind,” Lance waved a hand as Lulio walked past a stall, before faltering and looking at a pair of shoes. Which Lance recognised more as socks, before looking at the stall owner.

“That’s five.”

“Five?” Lulio yelled, “What am I made of money?”

“Aren’t you to be the prince soon?” The stall owner said with a cheeky smile. “You’re lucky I’m not making it ten.”

“Then as the future prince I command you to make it less.”

“Three.”

“Deal.” They shook hands and Lulio dropped three coins, into the stall owners hand who smiled and handed over the sock looking-shoes. Which Lance slipped onto his feet, they had solid bottoms and Lance stomped his feet in them.

Lulio laughed, “You’re an idiot.”

“You’re annoying.”

There was a crash and a scream and Lance immediately shot up, turning around, his hands searching for a weapon without even needing to think about it. A weapons store was nearby, a few steps away. That’s where he was going to go if he needed to.

It was a Galra, a proper, real Galra general. With the ears and purple skin. Lance tensed, his hands itching for a weapon, there was a squeal and a small girl was on the ground. Lulio grabbed his arm.

“Don’t! You’re jeopardizing the rebellion,” he hissed and Lance relaxed. He wasn’t the impulsive one. He wasn’t the impulsive one. 

Then the Galra general pulled out a sword on this child. And Lulio let go of his arm, and didn’t try to grab it again, Lance snatched a sword from the stall, mainly because it was closer. Also, swords make anyone look cooler.

(Take Keith vs. Him. Keith always looks cool when he’s slicing and dicing instead of pressing a button. Also, Lance has had training with swords, just not that much, but can still fight Keith for about two minutes which counts as a win.)

Lance pointed the sword at the Galra general, he has stared down scarier things then this bitchass who pushed a child to the floor and pointed a sword at her. “Let the child go,” he spat.

“Who are you to question a Galra general?”

A paladin of Voltron. Is what Lance doesn’t say, because while that would be a great and dramatic reveal. That would actually jeopardize the rebellion and Lance didn’t need that on his conscious. 

“Who are you to question me?” Lance retorted.

“Unless you’re royalty, I am your superior.”

Lance was considering marrying Amori or Lulio right now to prove him wrong. He glanced at Lulio who shook his head. So that was a no then. Lance took a deep breath. He’d learnt some Galran. Not a lot. Maybe he could get by with it.

He stared at the general. “Nānu nim'ma ājñeya mērege illa. Kattiyannu keḷage irisi,” Lance snapped, and that was about all the Galran he knew. He could also swear and bark out some basic Galran orders.

There. That was all he had over this situation. A basic grasp of Galran and the ability to sound somewhat scary. Cool. Cool. Very cool.

“Īga!” He snapped and the Galran general stepped back, “Manege hōgu!” He yelled and the Galra general turned around slowly. Before walking off. People were looking at him like he’d grown three heads.

Maybe he had.

Lulio grabbed him by the arm and slammed him against a wall, a knife at his throat. “Why can you speak Galran? If you fuck this up Vance, you’re not going to survive much longer, we’ve been under their rule too long, and we’re not going to let some random ruin this!” He pushed the dagger towards Lance’s throat a bit more. “Now tell me, why do you know Galran?”

“For situations like this,” Lance responded, his voice level. “They backed off didn’t they?”

“You can’t learn Galran,” Lulio snapped, “There are no books on it.”

“Maybe not where you are.” Lance said and Lulio’s eyes sharpened. “I obviously know Galran and I’m not Galran.”

“You can still be working for them.”

“I work for my team,” Lance snapped, “I don’t work for the Galra, I don’t work for you.”

“You think you’re the shit because you have a mysterious past and are a badass,” Lulio yelled, right in Lance’s face and Lance didn’t even have the energy to flinch or even look slightly annoyed like this. “Just because you don’t flinch doesn’t mean you’re shit.”

What Lance was about to do was so needlessly extra, he really didn’t even need to do it. He could’ve just said his thing and then that would be that. But Lance was needlessly dramatic, he blamed the soap-operas.

Lance kicked his leg, his foot meeting Lulio’s knee as he grabbed Lulio’s arm with the knife as poked the points he needed to for the dagger to drop on the ground. Which Lance balanced on his other foot, before kicking it up into his hand. Letting go of Lulio and catching it.

“Correct,” Lance said with a grin. “I’m not shit because you can yell at me without me flinching. But I am shit because of that,” he flashed his teeth at Lulio who glared. “I’m gonna keep this,” he flipped the dagger over in his hands. “I don’t want to get murdered in my bed.”   
  


“I wouldn’t murder you in  _ my  _ bed. The blood would get everywhere.”

“You know how to woo a guy,” Lance said bluntly and the panic on Lulio’s face made it worth it a million times over. “You just held a dagger to my throat and implied the only reason you wouldn’t murder me was because your bed would get blood everywhere.”

Lulio stared at him for a moment and Lance patted him on the cheek. “You’re doing great sweetie.”

The walk back to the bar was Lulio panicking and Lance pretending to not be amused as he spun the dagger in his hand in a way that he’d learnt from Keith. Only because it looked cool. Then his mind drifted.

Back to his team, his stupid team, his stupid team. His stupid team. But it’s  _ his  _ stupid team, and they must think he’s dead. They had no way of knowing he was dead or alive. Lance had no way of knowing where they were.

He had to pray that they were taking it easy after… Keith and him, and that a clean-up mission would be a perfect way to do it. It was relying on so many things going right, and Lance having faith in his team.

There has to be a way to contact them. Directly.

The bar door squeaked open and Lance handed Lulio his knife back. If he got murdered in his sleep that was a funny way to go, at least. Lulio pushed past, out the back and then out the secret door leading into the meeting room.

People were already there, before glancing at Lance and looking at Amori expectantly, so they had been waiting for him. Which was nice. Lance crossed his arms and leant against the wall as Lulio closed the door behind him.

“Can we start?” Someone asked and Lulio rolled his eyes as Lance stifled a laugh.

“We can,” Amori said stiffly. “Vance, come here.”

Ah, Vance. His fake name, which he chose when he was totally and completely thinking straight. He walked next to Amori who had a map spread out on the table and she looked at them all, her eyes scanning before going back down.

“First thing, we need to get control of their comms.”

That was a way to contact them. Directly.

Lance needed to remember that.

“That way they can’t get messages back, so they’ll need to evacuate. Then we get our shields up before anyone else can get back in.”

“That’s the plan?” Lance asked slowly. “Like… only that?”

“Yeah?” Someone who wasn’t Amori said and Lance sighed audibly. Before looking at the map, and at the capital.

There were six communication towers. They’d have to take out the five, then the main one in the building. “Okay, there are six communication towers. Five are outside and located on various points around the capital building. One is inside, that needs to be taken out last.”

His finger trailed over the map before the sentry holding buildings, and the hangars where they kept most of the Galra ships. “Taking out both of these things beforehand means that less troops to fight, and they’ll need to go on escape pods.”

“So what order?” Lulio asked raising an eyebrow. Trying to shoot him down.

Nice try.

“Comms, sentries, hangar, shields. I believe that a small group of people should go to the main comm in the building, before it’s overrun. That way they’re thrown into chaos. It’s important that we can all communicate with each other.”

“Why don’t you do it then?” A particularly rude member said, “If you’re that great.”

“Sure, so I’ll sneak into the main building. As y’all—” he paused. He just said y’all. What was he, Keith? “The five other towers need to be blown up seconds before I blow up mine. Then if we explode the sentry buildings and place explosives in the hangar… then we charge for the building, take it over.”

“Shields?”

“Uh, I don’t really know how they work. I’m going to assume they’re in the palace, they’ll be done after a takeover. Then we send out a message for clean-up help, and that way we can take down sections of shields to let people in and out.”

Lulio snickered, “So that’s how you’re finding your team? Luck that they’ll hear your message.”

They’d hear him. Lance grew up in a house that was always full. He knew how to make himself heard. Lance ignored him. “I can’t organise troops, I can organise small missions for the towers. That can be my job if you’d like.”

“We’d need to come to a consensus on that,” Amori said, but considering she seemed a little bit fond of Lance the chances he was leading the comms mission seemed fairly high. “You seem qualified.”

“Okay, even if I don’t lead the mission. I’d like to take out the main comms tower, I know the sentry patterns and I’m a sniper. It’s the perfect mission for me—”

“I’ll go with him too,” Lulio said, pushing off the wall and everyone spun around to look at him, waiting for a semblance of a reasonable answer. “I still don’t trust him, and someone needs to kill him if he thinks about turning.”

“The future prince of Dubux can’t go on a dangerous mission,” Lance responded. “If he dies, who’s the heir?”

Everyone stayed silent.

“If I’m a prince I order you to let me go,” Lulio looked at Lance and Lance met him with a gaze which was just as cold and stern.

“You’re not my prince,” Lance shot back. “You can’t order me around. Technically I’m above you.”

Lulio laughed and Lance decided to ignore the joke he’d made unintentionally. “What are you, a Paladin of Voltron?”

“As much as you are a prince,” Lance shot back and the room ‘ooohed’ around them and Lulio’s mouth fell open as Lance just grinned at him. “Don’t worry about it princey, you can’t order me around. You’re not coming.”

“Not yet,” he muttered before glaring at Lance. “I will if I want to and you can’t stop me.”

“I will tie you down,” Lance returned, well aware of how bad that sounded.

“Maybe I’m into that,” Lulio shot back just as quickly and Lance stared at him, “I’m going with you and unless you want terrible relations with Dubux if I become king and become an outlaw here.”

“I’m already an outlaw,” he crossed his arms and someone coughed. Turning Lance’s attention back around to everyone. “Oh. Yeah,” he said intelligently.

Lulio snorted and Lance was going to throw him through a wall in a second. Amori just sighed before gesturing at the map. “We need to decide who’s going on what missions, Joi, you have connections to the hangars. Can you get the bombs in?”

Someone with red eyes and red interlaced with white hair nodded. They looked like a strawberry ripple ice cream. “Easily,” they replied. “We have people who can set them up in my sector too.”

Amori turned to someone who’s hair was just straight up blue, and they towered over everyone else. “Can you get the bombs into the sentry stations, Keeret?”

“Yeah. The Galra aren’t expecting a thing. I could get them in and even blow up the consoles if I planned it right.” Keeret said and Amori smiled brightly. Lance didn’t even know if Amori could actually smile before this.

Lance leaned next to Lulio, “Who are the others?”

“People with connections to everything. Boats, ships, agriculture, technology, troops. There are like three or four people with the troops and army and stuff. So if even one of these guys get murdered, we’re fine.”

“Smart.”

“Yup,” Lulio nodded before elbowing Lance in the side who elbowed back. “I’m not letting you go in alone,” he said looking directly at Lance and it seemed like it was just the pair of them. “If you’re really that important I can’t have you dying.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lance smiled.

“Still not letting you die.”

Lance rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue.

Because if he was ever going to see his families again. Voltron or the McClain’s, he needed to stay alive. And he wasn’t planning on dying for real this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my birthday nerds! So have this small present, which is another chapter which I happened to finish on my birthday. We're half way there. I've planned both of the chapters real in depth so I probably have to change the tags a little bit, but I don't really wanna spoil. I'll figure it out later.
> 
> No idea when the next chapter will happen because HOLY SHIT the US election has me freaking out a lot. It will be out eventually though, probably a bit longer wait than last time. Also if you need a translation for what Lance says in Galra it is the phonetic spelling of Kannada, a language used in India.
> 
> I was going to use the actual words, but I thought it looked funny. Lance will speak more Galran, he learnt it, to get himself outta these situations.
> 
> A rough translation is, (if I remember correctly, and you can't translate it back into translate.) "Put the sword down and step away" then later. "NOW!" and "Go home!" It may not be exact, I didn't write it down. But I will next time.
> 
> Unrelated, but opinions on Lulio, Lance's plan and any predictions. I love hearing you nerds talk, sooooo, feel free to comment if you'd like.


	3. What Makes A Family?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith was... struggling at best. Between weird dreams with Lance featured heavily, that may not even be dreams. And coping with the fact he was part-Galra and the only person he knew was going to give him unconditional support. 
> 
> He hasn't felt so alone in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning/Trigger Warning: (THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS UNSPOILED!)
> 
> There is a panic attack, which starts at: . '"Pidge’s face fell, and became almost sad. “Keith, no one’s going to hurt you. We’re a family. No matter how mad they think they are, they’re not going to hurt you, I promise.”'
> 
> and ends at: . '“You do,” Shiro said softly, “Keith, Pidge has found your ship. We don’t think you’re in the right state of mind to be piloting, can we pick you up?”'
> 
> So please feel free to skip right past that if that's not your cup of tea.
> 
> Also Keith has thoughts of self-harm, they're not acted upon at all, but they happen. And I forgot to put that tag in when I started writing this and I'm going to add the tag right now. If you need feel free to skip that bit. 
> 
> It starts from when Keith has a nightmare and gets out of bed and goes to the kitchen. It ends at: . 'Because no matter how old he got, it seemed that he’d always be the scared little kid who used to sleep outside of Shiro’s room when there were thunderstorms and lightning that cracked throughout the sky.'

Keith’s knees were drawn to his chest, his eyes looking over for any unusual signs of quintessence. It had taken him sleepless nights to get this set up without Pidge or Hunk helping him, but he could read.

It was aligned with his own, apparently, because him and Red shared some, which was how the lion worked. Allura had talked about it a while ago, and Keith couldn’t be bothered to fact check.

For some reason, even if it was pointless he’d still flick through any signals they were receiving. Which were a lot of them, he’d flick through them alright. Hearing the chatter so he’d maybe, hopefully, feel a little bit less alone.

His dreams are haunting him. Not because they’re him dropping Lance. He knows how to handle nightmares, he doesn’t know how to handle… whatever these dreams are. It’s purple everywhere.

Red and blue mixed.

Somehow that hurts more than reliving the worst moments of his life over and again. It’s hopeful, to him, purple means hope, for something more. Bruises were a hope that they’d disappear one day.

Purple was his favourite colour. Adam’s and Shiro’s apartment had lots of purple. The couch was purple, the couch that he sat on and in lots of ways grew up on it. From a scared boy, into a terrified one.

Purple was the colour of the sky some nights, reminding him that he was and would always be alone. He hasn’t felt this alone in what feels like lifetimes, even if it’s been less time, he couldn’t guess how much. His body clock knows no relief anymore, but his body knows it was alone.

Part of him is sick of being alone. The other part knows that it was better.

_ Galra.  _ His mind taunts him, it’s been getting worse than usual. 

He wanted Lance back. 

He wanted Lance back.

Was it childish and dumb to want someone? Was it childish to want the only person that Keith would’ve been able to find comfort from. It was something kids did and Keith wasn’t a kid anymore.

_ Hunk hates Galra. He hates you. _

“Keith?” A voice said and Keith jumped, spinning around in his chair to be met with brown skin and a bandana which had to be holding all the germs they’d ever come into contact with. 

“You need to be asleep,” Keith managed.

There was a sigh, “When was the last time you slept?” Someone popped up next to Hunk, a small, but no less intimidating figure standing next to him.

Keith wondered when he started wondering how he’d take them in a fight.

He used to do that at the foster homes. Size up the kids.

“I’ve functioned on less.”

“Well we weren’t here,” Hunk replied, putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder and Keith flinched away. “We’re here now Keith.”

With a short laugh Keith shook his head.

_ They won’t be here for long. Everyone leaves. _

“I have things to do,” he responded. 

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look, and Keith really couldn’t tell if he was about to get beaten up or aggressively taken care of. Pidge went to move forward and Keith stepped backwards, and Pidge stopped where she was standing.

Hunk watched him for a moment longer, trying to dissect him.

“You need a break Keith. You’re exhausted,” Hunk said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not, when was the last time you went to bed?”

Three days ago. Keith just sighed, spinning around in his chair and glaring a little bit at the two of them. Pidge walked over, looking over his shoulder, her face confused before she looked at him.

“What are you even measuring?” She pulled up a chair next to him, crossing her legs and arms as she sat on the chair. Her eyes watching, darting around the screen. She brought up another screen, to her measurements, which were lit up everywhere. “What are you measuring?” She repeated.

“My quintessence. Red and I share some, so if there’s a miniscule amount then it’s Red.”

“That only works if Red isn’t sleeping,” Hunk added, pulling up a chair on the other side of Keith. “Red may be beaten up and is essentially healing up, then she’d be drawing on her own.”

Keith sighed, slumping over, resting his head on the desk as he decided that death would be easier and more enjoyable than trying to find Red. He hit his head against the desk and went to do it again, when instead he hit Hunk’s hand.

“You need to go to sleep. Stop beating yourself up like this,” Pidge said, “We’ll find Red.”   
  


“I keep having these dreams—” he paused for a moment and Hunk’s and Pidge’s faces softened almost completely. “I know they’re not real, but they— they feel so real.”

“What are they about?” Hunk asked carefully.

“Lance is alive. That’s it. We just talk. In the abyss and he keeps saying he’s alive but—” Keith’s voice broke in a way that he’d beat himself up for later. “I know he’s not, and I hate these dreams.”

Pidge and Hunk stayed quiet for a moment. “Coran might have something,” Hunk settled on, “We should go check,” he went to pick up Keith who stayed in his seat. Looking at the screen. “Keith?”

“What if something—”

“I’ll stay,” Pidge said, “If anything changes you’ll know.” 

Keith nodded, standing up and Pidge took his seat. Before folding her arms and watching the screen with the same intensity that Keith had been.

Hopefully the dreams would stop.

* * *

They did not.

When Keith woke up in the awful purple place he was getting more familiar with he swore. Loudly. Someone, who he knew was Lance, gasped dramatically behind him. Keith closed his eyes.

When he turned around he wasn’t going to see Lance.

He was going to be in his bed.

Keith spun around, and Lance was there. His hands hanging awkwardly by his sides as he looked at Keith.

“No.” Is what Keith said, “What the fuck? What the fuck is happening?”

“Well I’m dreaming and you’re here.”

“I’m the one dreaming! I’m not supposed to be dreaming,” Keith yelled, his voice didn’t echo as the nothingness expanded in every single direction and there was nothing that his voice could bounce off of. “Coran gave me—”

“Wait,” Lance said, “I’m dreaming, you’re dreaming. It’s almost impossible to have the same dream at the same time that lines up perfectly.”

“What are you saying?”

“Maybe this is real.”

Keith gestured around them, “This is not real, you are not real!” He sat down again, hunched over as he tried not to cry. Before slowly looking up at Lance. “You’re dead.”

“I’m not!” Lance argued, walking towards Keith. “Red saved me.”

“Red is missing,” Keith muttered through the curtain of hair that was in his face. “You’re dead. Whatever Coran gave me isn’t working and this is some sort of sick karma.”

“It’s not,” Lance sat down in front of Keith. “Give me your hand.” Lance had a knife in his hand and Keith didn’t want to know why.

He did not give his hand.

“You can’t get hurt in dreams right? So if you get a bruise or a cut, and it’s there when you wake up. This isn’t a dream,” Lance spun the knife around in his hand, in a way that Keith had taught him. “Just trust me, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Keith held his left hand out in front of him, which Lance grabbed. Before he looked up at Keith, his eyes asking for permission. With a curt nod, Lance swiped the knife over his skin. 

It was barely bleeding, a tiny scratch. Keith looked at it for a moment before crossing his arms. “So,” Lance said. “What have you been doing?”

“Trying to find Red.”

“She’s with me.”

“She?” Keith said slowly, “Red’s not a she.”

Lance’s face screwed up and he shook his head. “Red’s a she.”

“Is not,” Keith laid down. Before staring up. “This is weird… if this isn’t a dream this is somehow even weirder.” He stared up into the empty space which was somehow still purple. “What is happening to us?”

“No clue,” Lance sighed. 

Keith glanced at Lance, he was laying down next to him, staring up as well. As he tried to memorise every feature on Lance’s face, the sharp and soft lines that blended together to make— well, Lance’s face. He just stared, and Lance didn’t even notice, or if he did he didn’t say anything.

“I’ll find you guys again,” Lance said. “I know it.”

They stayed quiet.

“It’s like quantum entanglement, particles that may be universes apart rush to find each other. No matter how far away they are,” Lance glanced at Keith for a split second before looking away. “I think I’ll keep finding you, for as long as I live.”

“Quantum entanglement,” Keith repeated with a smile. “You’re an idiot.”

Lance laughed. Somehow at that moment Keith didn’t realise that he was in love with Lance McClain. But he was. Even if he didn’t know it, Keith was in love with Lance McClain.

* * *

The cut was on his hand when he woke up. Keith proceeded to freak out, before yelling and loudly. Before throwing his pillow across the room.

Eventually he managed to get himself out of bed, before dragging himself down the hallway, shrugging on his jacket. Before pausing outside of Lance’s room. He glanced down at his hand again, sure enough, the cut was there.

With a soft sigh the door opened and he walked in again. He’d been the only one to come in here. Everyone else was avoiding the hallway completely, but Keith couldn’t exactly ignore the hallway that he slept in.

The room was exactly the same as he’d left it the last time he went in. Everything was neat, and Keith could almost feel dust settling and he hated that. He walked over to the desk, trying to see any new notes which were worth anything.

Everything was the exact same, nothing new, because why would there be? Keith picked up the jacket that Lance had left behind, his signature jacket that he’d gotten for his seventeenth birthday.

If Lance was alive, and all the evidence pointed to that being true, he’d want the jacket back. Keith held it with one hand, before placing it back on the bed. Folding it up again and turning around back to the photo wall.

It was still the same, and Keith still found himself looking at them all. The one’s of the team, or of Lance’s family, or just of Lance being stupid in the background of the photos which made Keith laugh.

Keith reached into his pocket, the pocket of his jacket. There was a folded up photo of him and Lance, Keith had actually taken it, hence why it wasn’t on the wall.

The photo was of the pair of them, Keith was rolling his eyes as Lance stuck his tongue out at the camera. He looked at it for longer than he needed to, before walking over to the desk and picking up a pen that didn’t quite fit in his hand right.

Turning the photo over Keith hummed, trying to think of what to write. Lance may not even see this. Still, he wanted to write something. 

_ You’re an idiot.  _ Is what he settled on, before sticking it to the wall, slightly crooked but Keith felt like that was enough and said everything it needed to without giving himself away. 

His eyes scanned over the room, looking at everything before putting the pen down and walking out of Lance’s room. The door opened and Hunk was standing there, his eyes slightly red and shining.

“Oh.” They both said. 

“Hey,” Hunk said, rubbing at his eyes. 

“Hunk—” Keith had a million things he needed to say. “I think Lance is alive.”

“What?”

“I think he’s alive. My reasoning is awful. But the weird dream things, I don’t think they’re dreams, the stuff Coran gave me didn’t work. Then I was in the weird purple place and Lance was there and he cut my hand to prove it wasn’t a dream.” Keith held up his hand, where the cut was. “And I don’t think it was a dream.”

“You can’t trust dreams,” Hunk’s voice was clogged with emotions. “You can’t trust dreams. Keith, he’s gone. I know you’re taking this hard—” he was stopped by tears rolling down his face. “He’s gone.”

He wasn’t.

Keith knew it, in his stomach. Lance wasn’t gone.

Instead of saying that he hugged Hunk, around the shoulders and Hunk wailed into his shoulder and Keith just hugged his friend. “I don’t wanna get my hopes up,” Hunk cried, “In case he’s really—”

“I know. I know.”

Because Keith didn’t want to either. Unlike Hunk he wasn’t someone to get his hopes up unless there was a reason to. Keith couldn’t explain why he knew it in his stomach, or why he trusted the weird dream-scape thing. 

When Hunk had stopped crying (after a while, but Keith couldn’t blame him for that) and they’d both gone out for breakfast, Hunk told everyone what Keith had said. 

Shiro had claimed he needed to go see a therapist again and Allura had decided that Keith was not coping well.

Which was true, but mostly unrelated to this thing.

Keith had instead just looked at Shiro, he looked more tired than usual, which was saying a lot considering how exhausted he’d been as of lately. The bruises around his wrist on his flesh hand looked almost painful, and Keith wondered if Shiro’s wrist was supposed to be bent like that.

He didn’t think so.

Shiro caught Keith looking and pulled one of his gloves up a little more, and Keith just looked at Shiro. When Hunk, Allura, Pidge and Coran had cleared off, to do whatever, Shiro had stood up and started towards the door.

Keith blocked the door, leaning against the door frame. “I’m not moving until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.”

“Shiro,” Keith sighed, “You can pretend something isn’t wrong to the others, they haven’t known you for seven years. I know something’s wrong.”

“Just stress,” Shiro gave a smile which was as tired as it was fake. “Keith, move.”

“I’m not moving until you say what’s wrong,” Keith crossed his arms. “I have all day.” He looked at his nails before looking back up at Shiro.

“I also have all day.”

“Are we seriously doing this? Last time that went so well.” 

When Keith was still new to the Shirogane household, when he was eleven and small. He’d had a particularly bad night, before he’d gone to Shiro’s room and slept outside his door. Shiro, being a confused barely adult, had opened his door to his adopted brother sleeping outside his door.

Always a weird situation. Shiro had picked Keith up and put him in his own bedroom and Shiro had sat at the door. When Keith eventually woke up, Shiro wouldn’t move from the door until Keith told him what was wrong.

That had ended with Shiro having a bruised jaw and Keith getting berated by Eiji and Yua Shirogane, who had not been happy. Shiro had suggested sending him back, before seeing the look on Keith’s face and backpedaling really quickly.

The last time they’d done this they both got in trouble. Was the conclusion that Keith had come to, and considering space-mom Allura was around it seemed quite likely it would go that way again.

“Keith,” Shiro sighed. “Move.”

“I’m not moving until you—”

“Move!” Shiro yelled.

Shiro never yelled. 

Never. 

Even when Keith had gotten mad and broken his phone, even when Keith had accidentally almost got Shiro and Adam broken up because Keith said that Adam was out with another guy because Keith was mad at them both.

He hadn’t yelled then. Why was he yelling now? When Keith wouldn’t move.

More confusingly was the lack of concern or regret on Shiro’s face. One time he’d yelled at a kid who had punched Keith, before he started apologising profusely and ended up buying that kid chocolate.

What was happening to Shiro?

Keith stood his ground. He knew Shiro wouldn’t hurt him, even if Keith was making him furious.

_ He also doesn’t normally yell.  _ His mind, the traitor, whispered.  _ Who says he won’t start hitting?  _

Still, he didn’t move. “Shiro, what’s happening—”

“Move,” Shiro said, calmer this time. “Move right now.”

He didn’t move, if Shiro didn’t move all those years ago, Keith wasn’t moving either. “I’m not moving. You need to tell me what’s wrong, or someone. You're exhausted, and not just the type of exhausted that comes from not sleeping.”

“Move.”

“No,” Keith lent against the doorframe a little more. “I’m not moving.”

Shiro took a deep breath, before running a hand through his white tuft. “Move, Keith. Now, I’m the leader, listen to me.”

“I’m your brother before you’re my leader,” Keith scowled. “As your brother I’m not moving and I’m asking you to tell me why you’re tired, why your wrist is bruised and why you’re not acting like yourself—”

“Move.”

“What is happening to you Shiro? You’re acting so weirdly, you yelled at me. You never yell, you’re not criticizing me for doing anything wrong, my form was all off yesterday and you didn’t say anything. You’re normally more perspective to when the team hasn’t been sleeping and no one’s been sleeping—”

“Move.”

“Normally you’d know if I was having nightmares and you normally make fun of me whenever you can, or teasing me about something. I went all Southern yesterday too, and you didn’t say a single thing. Pidge and Hunk teased me, which is normal but you did nothing—”

“Move, now.”

“You’re also never the first one up anymore, you always used to be the first one up. You’re distancing yourself and Hunk said that he’s seen you walking around at night twice now. You’ve been acting weirder and weirder—”

“Move!” Shiro yelled again, and this time it was madder, full of rage and Keith moved out of instinct from his childhood, not because he wanted to. Shiro shoved him as he walked past and Keith managed to keep his balance.

What was happening with Shiro? Everyone was concerned about him, but where was the concern for Shiro?

* * *

“I have a mission!” Allura said excitedly and everyone just looked at her, “It’s not a difficult mission, you’re helping move supplies for a rebel group. They need extra hands and this will strengthen our trust with any rebels.”

“You’re kidding,” Keith said flatly. “I want to stab some Galra.”

“Mood,” Pidge snorted.

“You, Keith of all people aren’t sound enough right now to stab anything,” Allura said and Keith scowled at her. “This is a place to start, and it’s a good place to start.”

“I’m gonna stab some Galra,” Keith muttered, mainly to himself and Shiro looked at him. “What do you want?” He snapped.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Hunk said, “Keith, chill.” Pidge nodded enthusiastically next to him and Keith glared at Shiro who just looked at him, his face completely blank.

“Fuck off Shiro,” Keith said and Shiro looked away. Leaving Pidge, Hunk, Allura and Coran to exchange nervous glances at each other. Keith turned around and walked away, going to find his armour.

When he eventually did that he returned. His arms crossed as Shiro stood across the room from him, looking everywhere that wasn’t Keith. “Keith—”

“Don’t.” He looked at Shiro. “Don’t even try.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I said don’t,” Keith glared at his brother. While tapping his fingers on his armour. “Stop talking to me.”

“Keith—”

“Stop talking to me.”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“And I said stop talking to me. I don’t know what’s happening with you, but if you’re going to be a stubborn bitch, then fine. So am I.”

“You can’t criticise me for acting odd,” Shiro said and Keith realised he couldn’t shut up Shiro if he tried. He rolled his eyes. “You’ve been talking about Galra like they’re the scum of the Earth, and you’re not telling anyone what’s wrong with you either.”

“At least I’m not yelling at people and shoving someone known to have been abused as a child,” Keith almost yelled and that made Shiro’s mouth close with a snap and Keith looked away.

The silence was awkward.

When Allura walked out, she took a look at the pair of them. “For quiznack’s sake,” she muttered. “Why are you mad as a wet chüper?” 

Neither of them responded.

“Men,” she muttered.

A while after that Pidge and Hunk rocked up in their armour and looking just as nervous as Allura had about Shiro and Keith not talking and very purposefully not looking at each other. No one said anything as Allura went through what the mission was.

Essentially it was like packing for a move. They had boxes to move from one ship to the other, and hopefully don’t fall asleep. Keith knew all about moving, and tried not to laugh to himself as he realised that.

“I’m going with Pidge,” Keith decided and everyone really paused this time. It meant that Keith was actually mad at Shiro, not his normal teenage-angst-I’m-mad-at-everyone, mad. He was actually, really, mad.

Shiro did a double take too, before nodding. “Okay, I’ll have the directions.” Then he left, walking the direction over to his hangar. Hunk basically scurried off, leaving Pidge and Keith.

Pidge started walking and Keith walked next to her. “What did he do?”

“Shoved me. Yelled at me.”

“He what?” Pidge stopped in her tracks. “Shiro? This is the same Shiro, Takashi Shirogane, pilot of Black?”

“I know,” Keith crossed his arms and tightly enough that it hurt, more than a little bit too. But he couldn’t find it within himself to care that much. “He’s been acting… off, and he’s not telling anyone what’s wrong.”

“Are you mad because he shoved you, or mad because he felt like he needed to shove you?”

“Both.” Keith started walking faster and Pidge was basically jogging to keep up with him. “It’s just so— not Shiro. He’s becoming another person it feels like.”

Pidge nodded as they entered the hangar and Green looked at them. “Okay, hey, this is Keith, he’s with us today because Red is missing and he’s fighting with the leader.”

There was a beat and then Pidge started dragging Keith with her to Green’s jaw. Which opened and they stepped in. It was smaller than Red, but still plenty of space. Pidge threw herself into the seat and popped on her helmet.

It was crooked.

Keith grabbed the helmet and took it off her head, before putting it back on correctly. Then putting his own on. “Why can’t anyone put their helmet on straight?”

“Because I’m not straight?” Pidge tried and Keith just sighed at her and she put up her hands, a huge grin on her face. “What? Girls cute, sex bad.”

“You’re twelve, don’t ever say sex again.”

“Watch me,” Pidge clicked her tongue. “Sex, sex, sex, sex—”

Keith kicked her chair and Pidge yelped before grinning again, with a hint of laughter behind it too. “I’m actually fourteen, so shut the fuck up.”

“I’m going to throw myself out of the airlock—”

“At least let me record it.”

“Thanks Pidge.”

“Anytime Gerard Gay,” she said and before Keith could open his mouth to argue, Green launched and Keith was sent tumbling to the side. Hitting the side of Green with a groan, before glaring at Pidge, who was laughing maniacally.

He went to say something, before he was thrown to the other side. “You bitch!” Keith managed to grab onto the chair as Pidge kept throwing Green around in an attempt to get Keith hurt.

It didn’t work.

_ “What are you doing?”  _ Hunk asked through the comms,  _ “Are you okay?” _

“All good here!” Pidge said, “Just trying to kill Keith.”

_ “Stop mucking around Pidge,”  _ Shiro said.

“Uh oh, the fun police is here!” Pidge said and Shiro sighed loudly through the comms as Hunk tried not to laugh and Keith snorted really attractively. “Yeah, I’ll stop, sorry Shiro.”

_ “It’s fine. Please don’t try and kill Keith.” _

“Please do,” Keith said. “It’s not murder if there’s consent.”

_ “That’s assisted suicide,”  _ Hunk deadpanned.  _ “Don’t kill Keith, or else I’m telling space-mom.” _

Pidge stopped trying to kill Keith after that, which was quite appreciated. 

* * *

“You have the mission,” Lulio said lazily. Before laying on the ground next to Lance. Who was staring up at the reddish sky that surrounded them. “They said you were the best shot and they’re not wrong.”

“I know,” Lance grinned. “Does that mean you’re coming with me.”

“Duh. Only person who can stop me is my mom.”

“I’m still above you.”

“Not yet you aren’t, coward,” Lulio said with an exaggerated wink and Lance rolled his eyes. “You could be if you wanted to—”

“Please stop.”

“Not until you fall for me, Vance.”

“The only falling for you I am is falling to my death to avoid you.”

“You like me,” Lulio said with a grin. “I know you do.”

Lance didn’t argue, he wasn’t a liar afterall. His mama had raised him better than that. He wasn’t any old punk, he was a truthful punk.

* * *

This was the single most boring mission that Keith had ever been on. Ever and he’d been on a mission where he sat in his lion for a quintant, at least then he’d been able to insult Lance who was also sitting in his lion.

It was literally just moving. Picking up one box, walking the short distance to the other ship. Before picking up one of the boxes from that ship and moving it back. Keith was about to actually die of boredom.

All he wanted to do was stab some Galra and he got to move some boxes.

The only redeeming thing about this mission was Pidge trying to bully his tragic backstory out of him. Which wasn’t working, it took way more than some light bullying to get that out of him, he was better than that—

“Tell me or you’re straight,” Pidge said and Shiro made a noise of disgust.

“You can’t threaten me like that!” Keith almost dropped his box, but managed to grab it at the last second. “Light bullying is fine, threats are not.”

“Do it straightie,” Hunk said from the other ship.

“Shut up Hunk!” Pidge called back, not even looking over her shoulder. “You didn’t know he was gay like two days ago.”

Hunk must’ve thought that was fair so stayed quiet. Pidge was just looking at Keith who sighed dramatically as he climbed up into the other ship. “Basically my dad died, my mom left when I was very little. I was put into foster care and that never ends well for anyone. Then Shiro found me next to a dumpster.”

“Really?” Pidge asked, “A dumpster. You really are just gay trash.”

“You’re just trash,” Keith set down his box and grabbed another one. “There, tragic backstory unlocked, what else do you want?”

“Why you’re claustrophobic,” Pidge said with a casual shrug, which meant that she’d really wanted to know for a while. “Being locked in that pod one time, really freaked you out.”

Keith took a deep breath, walking out of one of the ships and starting towards the other. “When I was maybe eightish? I forget. When I acted out I used to get shoved into a closet and locked in there.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so we’re never mentioning that again,” Keith set down his box. 

“Okay.”

“Cool.”

“Great.”

“Fantastic,” Pidge said, ever one to need the last word and Keith huffed, putting his box down. “You remind me of Matt,” she said out of the blue and Keith actually dropped his box before scrambling to pick it up. “You’re both nerds, maybe every brotherly figure reminds me of Matt.”

“There was this girl, at one of the foster homes,” Keith said and Pidge looked up at him. Her eyes were curious. “She had orange hair and huge glasses, not exactly like you but similar, she used to sneak me food in the night when I was in trouble,” he laughed shortly. “She reminds me of you.”

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome—” Keith paused, his hand darting down to his bayard as he looked around. Something felt off. There was a beeping next to them and Keith was shielding Pidge with his body before he could think about it.

Something hit him in the back and his face contorted in pain as they hit the floor of the ship, Pidge cried out and Keith had his shield up, before he looked at Pidge. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, as she gasped for breath, grabbing her own bayard and taking a deep breath. “Why does nothing go right for us?”

“Karma for being gay,” Keith muttered. Before turning around, grabbing Pidge and making sure she was shielded by the shield. Keith tried to get behind it too, but not all of him was covered. 

He didn’t care. He’d rather Pidge be completely safe than him.

Keith looked, finally deciding what had happened. They’d been ratted out, and now Galra sentries were everywhere. A gun would’ve been really useful right about now. 

The weight of his sword shifted in his hand, into a gun.

Oh no.

Pidge made a small noise, “What?”

“I can’t use guns!” Keith said, waving it around. “It’s done this twice now,” still he popped the top of the gun over his shield. Looking out across the Galra sentries, pulling the trigger and getting thrown back by the recoil.

His pops had taught him how to shoot, he’d also been like six. It had been twelve years since then, twelve entire years since he’d shot a gun. 

What would Lance do?  _ Probably know how to use a gun.  _ Keith lined up again, this time ready for the recoil and fired. A sentry went down and Keith almost screamed with excitement. Before lining up the gun again and firing.

Another one went down.

Okay, this was taking too long. Keith shook his bayard, praying it would turn into a sword and it shifted again before Keith looked at Pidge. “Stay here.”

“What? No!”

“Stay safe,” he reaffirmed. “Please.”

Pidge nodded, “You too.” 

The silent,  _ ‘I can’t lose anymore family’  _ went unspoken but understood completely. Keith grabbed his shield as Pidge put hers up, before running forward.

Fighting was easy, it was as simple as swinging a sword around, hearing the crushing or slicing of metal and then moving on. A sentry grabbed Keith by the arm, and Keith propelled himself away using that sentry, sending it cascading to the ground.

Landing on another once he cut it’s side, and it collapsed underneath him before he went swinging again, smiling slightly as the metal crunched around his sword. There was a noise behind him, he ducked and a sentry in front of him staggered to the ground.

He had basically gotten through his section, swinging at sentries until the numbers thinned out. Thinning them out with the familiar crunch and a familiar sound of metal hitting the ground.

Keith whirled around and swung again, again. Before there was a yell, one that came from Pidge and Keith stopped before turning to face her. There was a sword at her throat, and something, very primal and instinctive brewed in his gut.

Family is endangered meant problems for whoever was endangering them. A bunch of sentries grabbed Keith, who tried to fight them off, but his mind was clouded and concerned enough that it didn’t do much.

Hunk and Shiro were on the ground and Pidge had been moved to sit next to them. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good. They had guns pointed at them, and swords too. This really wasn’t good.

A general, officer, whatever, Keith didn’t really care who they were. His family was in danger. The officer smiled at Keith as he tried to fight off the sentires and was met with no success.

“So you’re the red one,” they drawled and Keith grit his teeth.

He was losing control. He could feel it, brewing up slowly inside of him. Like a volcano getting ready to pop.

“How do you feel about being the last paladin?” The officer asked, teasingly. The sentries behind them had guns lined up for their heads, with eerie accuracy. How would Keith take them out? “Watching your team be executed in front of you.”

Keith decided he could show no fear. “The only one being executed is you,” he spat out, trying to fight off the sentries who just held onto him tighter. He had no wriggle room. His sword was on the ground.

There was a way out.

“I’ve always wondered what’s so special about humans, it seems to be what you call family. How you find it in those you aren’t related to, how you find it in the worst of places. You care for these people, and I can not, for the life of me, figure out why.”

Pidge was terrified, you could see it in her eyes. Which were wide as she looked around, they seemed to be glimmering, and not in a happy way. Did she always look this young? Did she always look like a child pretending to be an adult?   
  


“I’d like to see what killing the people you care for the most will do to you,” the officer said, smiling and Keith wanted nothing more than for their head to be on the floor as this pathetic excuse of an alien died. “Especially you.”

Great.

“From what I’ve heard you’re the loner, you’re the one who doesn’t let people know you care in case they don’t care back,” the officer drawled, their eyes, truely, really happy and Keith wanted to kill this monster. “You’re the one who runs because you’re scared of caring too much. Why’s that?”

Keith stayed quiet.

A laser gun whirred and the words spilt before he could stop them, “Because if you push away first you don’t get hurt,” he said it as one word, the words stumbling together into one.

The officer laughed, “So you admit, you care for them?”

He was losing control. Really, really losing control.

Keith could see two really obvious choices in front of him: Let himself lose control and be hated by the people who he cared about the most. Let them see him for what he really was, a monster.

Or let the people he cared about most die.

It seemed pretty obvious. Even if they hated him, he wasn’t going to let more of his family die.

“Yes,” Keith spat, “I care for them.”

Hunk didn’t normally look this scared either, they’d been in some bad situations and he never looked this scared. His mouth was open slightly, his eyes glancing between Shiro, Pidge and Keith.

He hated the Galra, rightfully so, especially after the Galra killed his best friend.

“What are you willing to do to keep them safe?” The officer taunted, “Switch places?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, “I’d be willing to do a lot more than switch places.”

The officer raised an eyebrow, and Keith did not mean that to sound suggestive at all, not even a tiny bit and Shiro winced slightly. Fair enough.

He took a deep breath, now would be a really convenient time to get control over his Galra-ness so he could then proceed to wreck everyone and get his family back to the castle. 

It didn’t matter if they hated him, it didn’t matter if he had to leave. Keith knew how to leave and he certainly knew how to be hated. He took another deep breath. Just another event, something to push him over the edge and he could do it.

“Keith don’t be stupid—” Shiro started and the officer responded by cutting his flesh arm with his sword as Shiro cried out in pain.

There. There was the breaking point.

The anger bubbled up inside of him, and his vision was tinted yellow. Fine, he could work with this. He threw the sentries off of him, grabbing his sword and swinging around in a complete circle as the sentries surrounding him fell apart.

Everything was kind of a rage filled blur, he knew there were lots of sentries ruined and he was fairly sure he used his bayard gun at least twice. All he really knew for sure was that he was mad.

Mad from being left his entire life for things that were better, mad that his pops died, mad that his mom left, mad that he was Galra. There was a whole list, mad that he dropped Lance, mad that he didn’t know whether Lance was alive or not, mad because he was sick of losing people who mattered to him.

This was the outlet. How he finally snapped, bringing eighteen years of anger and injustice out on other things that were threatening his family. As stupid and annoying as they could be, they were still his family. They still needed to get home.

At some point he lunged for the officer who had been taunting him and went to fucking town. He didn’t care what he was actually doing, he just hoped that it hurt and that it hurt a lot and that he’d regret ever trying to hurt him, or Pidge, or Shiro, or Hunk—

There was a hand on his shoulder and Keith jumped. Pidge was standing there, her eyes firm and not even the slightest bit afraid. 

“Keith, we’re okay,” she said, her voice steady and firm and everything that Keith needed. “You need to calm down. We’re okay,” she added softly and his vision went back to normal as he panted. “We’re okay.”

Shiro and Hunk were behind her, Hunk’s hand was hovering over his bayard and Shiro actually, really, looked scared.

So Keith turned around and he ran. Where to, he had no idea. Anything rather than staying there.

* * *

“Are you okay?” Lulio asked and Lance looked down at his hands, then up at Lulio. Who actually looked concerned, “You look like you’re in pain.”

“I am?” Lance said, although it sounded more like a question than a real statement. “My head hurts… like I’m going to cry?” 

Lulio stepped forward, “Are you?”

“I don’t think so, where did this come from?” Lance looked down at his hands again, before trying to connect to Red to see if she was alright, she was asleep. So she was fine then. He looked again up at Lulio.

“That’s weird,” Lulio stated the obvious and Lance nodded. “Could it just be nerves?”

“I’ve been on more dangerous missions,” Lance held a hand to his head as it pounded. Like his brain was knocking against his skull and hard. “I don’t get nervous about them anymore.”

“Nervous for me?” Lulio teased and Lance looked at him, his face deadpanned. 

“Yeah, but unrelated,” Lance waved a hand dismissively and Lulio made a small noise of surprise. He just sighed, before massaging his temples. “I need to sit down.”

Lulio dragged out a chair and Lance sat on the said chair. Slumping over the table as he did so. It hurt. It hurt a lot. He groaned as Lulio rubbed his back comfortingly, and even if Lance wanted him to stop that (which he didn’t) he didn’t have it in him to ask Lulio to move away from him.

His head was pounding, and there was no reason why. Was he getting a weird space illness?

* * *

When Keith was little he realised that space was his favourite thing, it was just so far away and it was something that he could dream towards. Space, the sky. His pops used to point out the constellations.

Then he’d laugh, in a way that Keith hadn’t heard anyone laugh since and say, “All of humanity watches the same stars, everyone that’s ever been on this Earth has watched these stars. When you look up to the stars, remember that.”

Keith would then laugh and kick his legs as his pops started trying to wrestle him to go to sleep. Which would need three bedtime stories, normally fiction books on space or identifying constellations, a lullaby, and his toy hippo.

He’d lost that hippo a long time ago, maybe it was still in the shack? He didn’t really know where Henry the Hippo had gone, and he didn’t want to know.

Nothing about these stars were familiar. He floated in the ship that he’d stolen. A small little thing that he knew that Allura or hopefully Pidge wouldn’t even be able to track. He didn’t want to be tracked.

He’d be okay with wasting out of here, wasting away into nothing.

The silence was long. In space no one could hear you cry.

Pidge’s face popped up in his helmet and he fell off of the seat, hitting his head on the ground. “Hey, Keith—” he went to shut her off. “If you hang up on me I swear that I will actually murder you then revive you.”

Keith didn’t shut her off, just hugged his arms around his middle instead of saying anything. Letting the silence surround him. “I think I’m gonna leave Voltron.”

“Keith—”

“They don’t want a monster on their team, I get it. I essentially killed Lance, I essentially kidnapped Shiro and made him fight for his life— I’m too volatile— don’t get me started on Allura and Coran—”

“Keith!” Pidge yelled and Keith stopped mid-sentence. “We’re worried about you, we have no clue where you are. I don’t care that you’re Galra, you’re still the idiot brother I never asked for.”

“But—”

“I’m not finished,” Pidge said and that managed to silence Keith completely and utterly. “It doesn’t matter, it’s like hating Shiro for being Japanese, or for pearl harbour, it’s unfair. And if the other’s can’t see that they’re idiots.”

“I need to leave,” Keith said, more into the air rather than at Pidge. “I can’t have them hating me—”

“They don’t hate you,” Pidge said, with more softness that Keith knew that she could use. “They really don’t, Shiro’s concerned about you, Hunk’s in shock, Allura and Coran are too. If you’re leaving, I’m leaving too.”

Keith hugged his middle tighter, he hadn’t started crying. He just had a horrific headache, building up more and more as he tried to not cry for longer and longer. Pidge’s face was one that Keith couldn’t describe, kind, was probably the best word.

“Where are you Keith? We need you back,” Pidge said and Keith shook his head. “You can’t just leave, nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“I don’t wanna get hurt,” Keith confessed, his arms crossed. “This is how it starts! Then they say something like ‘I care about you still, it’s for your own good’, I’m not in that situation anymore! I’m not a kid anymore I’m past that—”

Pidge’s face fell, and became almost sad. “Keith, no one’s going to hurt you. We’re a family. No matter how mad they think they are, they’re not going to hurt you, I promise.”

Keith nodded, his breath getting caught in his throat as he nodded slowly again. Before the floodgates just broke. And then he was crying harder than he had in a long time, as Pidge panicked.

“M’ fine,” he said through tears, “Jus’ it’s all a lot,” he managed, as he gasped to breathe. He needed to breathe. Why did his lungs stop working every now and again. He clutched onto his chest as he tried to breathe.

He gasped and his lungs burnt and shrivelled up in his body. Trying to breathe again and failing. 

“Keith.” That was Shiro, why was Shiro here? Was Shiro here? He looked up and around, and didn’t see Shiro before going back to breathing. “Keith, you need to calm down…”

That wasn’t going to work, his chest constricted again, as he wheezed for breath. His lungs were squeezing any air out of him, where was the air he needed? Was he going to die here? 

“Okay, Keith, listen to my voice. I’m not leaving okay, this will pass I promise.”

“I’m gonna die!” Keith forced out between his gasps for breath. “I am going to die!”

“You’re not, okay, you’re safe,” he said something in the background that Keith couldn’t quite make out. “You’re safe, okay. You are safe.”

His heart was beating impossibly fast, was he being choked? His hands went up to his neck to check, he wasn’t choking. What was happening? Keith made a noise, which was a sob as he tried to breathe.

_ You need to breathe. _

“Keith, listen to me, you’re going to get through this. I know it hurts and you’re scared, but this will be over soon.”

He nodded, he trusted Shiro. If Shiro said he was going to be alright he was going to be alright. Before clutching at his chest, if he ripped open his chest could he breathe better? Surely he’d be able to breathe better that way.

“Can you count with me?”

Keith was shaking, he was cold. Like ice-water, then he’d feel like someone put him in boiling hot lava. What was happening? He was going crazy, he was actually, really, completely going insane.

“One.” Shiro said and Keith didn’t respond. “Can you repeat after me Keith? One.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Two,” he managed but barely.

“Three.”

He was met with silence, as Keith’s head was swimming and the ship was spinning around him. Was he actually going to die here? Why was it so cold? He hugged his arms around himself, trying to warm up.

“Keith?” Shiro said, “Three?”

“Three.”

“Okay, this isn’t working,” he mumbled, and Keith barely picked it up and probably wouldn’t have if he hadn’t been relying on Shiro’s voice. “Keith, when you were little what was your favourite animal?”

“Hippo. I had this stuffed toy—” Keith stopped for a huge wheeze of breath, holding his chest again as his breath shuddered in his throat. “His name was Henry, I dunno where he is anymore—” a sob escaped from his mouth.

“Where did you get Henry from?” Shiro asked and Keith laughed through his tears.   
  


“Pops. Pops got him for me when I was sick,” he laughed, but this laugh was much sadder. His pops was gone, he was so sick of people going, dying, leaving him. He was tired of always being alone.

He’d been alone most of his life, maybe not literally, but it always felt like it. Like he had to be alone otherwise he’d get hurt later, he was so sick of being hurt and he was so sick of being alone. Was it too much to just… be?

Shiro hummed and Keith held onto it like a lifeline.

“Why hippos?”

“Everyone underestimates them,” Keith laughed, as his heart slowed down, beating at a slightly faster than usual pace, as his breathing was calming down. Enough that he felt good with talking. “Also, mother hippos are protective of their babies and I wanted a mom to be protective of me…” he trailed off. “I really have a tragic backstory don’t I?”

“You do,” Shiro said softly, “Keith, Pidge has found your ship. We don’t think you’re in the right state of mind to be piloting, can we pick you up?”

“You or Pidge,” Keith said. He didn’t want to face Hunk, Allura or Coran. Not now, maybe later he’d be brave enough. Right now he just wanted to ignore that everyone knew that he was a monster.

“Pidge is going,” Shiro said. “She won’t be long, okay? I’m staying here until she finds you. I’m not leaving.”

Keith nodded.

Not everyone could always leave. Eventually someone had to stay, and Keith hoped that it would be these guys. He hoped it with everything he had, then prayed that the universe wasn’t going to take that and ruin everything.

* * *

“Your posture is awful,” Lance said, nudging Lulio’s foot back with his own. “You have a sword fighting stance,” he nudged his other foot forward. “Back straighter, move your left hand back.”

Lulio sighed, but did as he was asked. “Is that better, your greatness?”

“Not really, chin up,” Lance walked around Lulio. Moving his foot again with his own an inch and Lulio glared. “You’re kidding me? That didn’t make a difference.”

“Does if you need to run,” Lance responded. “Right hand up more, no down, up a little… yup!” He looked at Lulio.

His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he looked at the target. A sentry body which had the centre command console stripped out of it and Lance stared at him for a moment longer. He really was attractive.

“Are you staring at me?” Lulio said, “You’re supposed to be staring at my stance, not my face.”

“You’re good looking, I can do both,” Lance argued and Lulio moved his head. “Eyes on the target pretty boy.” Lulio rolled his eyes but listened.

“I feel like this was just an excuse to stare at me,” Lulio said.

“Your left foot’s moved,” Lance said and Lulio moved his foot with an exaggerated sigh. “There. You can fire.”

Lulio’s finger tightened around the trigger and he got thrown back, from the recoil onto his ass and Lance doubled over laughing. Holding his stomach as he did so, before watching Lulio’s face turn into a scowl, directed at him.

“You knew that would happen!”

“I knew the recoil was higher than usual,” Lance said with a grin. “I didn’t expect you to go flying.”

“You’re awful, I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“I do. I hate you and your stupid face.”

“You like my stupid face,” Lance added with a grin and Lulio rolled his eyes. “You like my stupid face!” He sung this time and Lulio went to throw the gun at him, but somehow managed to hit the trigger. Sending him flying back further.

Lance laughed until he cried.

* * *

Pidge was walking in front of him, and in all aspects of the word, Keith was hiding behind her. Which is pathetic because Pidge is shorter than all of them, but she’s walking like if she wanted to she could kick Shiro’s ass.

At this point Keith wouldn’t doubt it if she did, because Keith was terrified of her and she was on his side here. They walked past Allura and Pidge gave her a stare that was at least double from what Allura was giving him.

“Try me,” she snapped, her hand hovering over her bayard. “Even look at him and I’ll taze you so hard you forget your name.”

Allura did not look at him.

Keith decided he’d die for Pidge without a second of hesitation at that moment. 

When they passed Coran, Pidge glared, it was less of a glare and more of a scowl. 

Coran looked right past her and straight at Keith, “I’m glad that you know who you are,” that was all he said.

But the thing was, Keith had no clue who he really was? What parts of him were made to protect himself and what parts of him were really him. Keith had no clue, and he didn’t want to dive too far into his trauma alone.

Instead he got the Galra book from under his bed, and just read a page or two. Before the door slid open and Keith hid the book under his blanket, turning around to look at Shiro before sighing.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said, “For yelling at you and shoving you. It was unacceptable.”

“I know.”

“I won’t do it again.”

Keith didn’t say anything to that and Shiro didn’t say anything about his lack of response either. He slowly brought out the book and Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“That was Lance’s book, did you tell him?”

“No. He figured it out,” Keith ran his fingers over the book slowly, trying to remember how it felt underneath his fingers, trying to distract himself from the conversation. “I’ve known… for a while, or at least thought, I think he knew when Pidge, him and I got captured and he went off by himself.”

Shiro nodded.

“He didn’t say anything, to anyone, he just read and defended Galra or— me I suppose, from Allura when I wasn’t going to try and justify my existence.”

He nodded again. “We’re here for you Keith, Allura will come around.”

Keith nodded, pretending that he also believed his nod. It wasn’t comforting at all, and it wasn’t Shiro at all. His apology wasn’t Shiro’s style, and his comforting wasn’t Shiro’s style. He was a man of action not words.

Normally Shiro would be trying to fist-fight Allura.

Pidge came in a while after Shiro left, they played video games. That comforted him much more than Shiro did and that felt wrong in his stomach. Shiro was his brother, they’d known each other for years and years.

Eventually when Keith was supposed to be sleeping he realised he was hungry, he was hungry because instead of having dinner he stayed in his room. Just reading his book, with limited fear of anyone seeing him.

He didn’t really wear pyjamas anymore, he did when his pops was alive and the first couple of foster homes, before he realised he needed to be ready to either run or be whisked away in the night. It was a habit really, being ready to fight.

Tonight was no exception, his bayard was on his belt. Where it normally sat unless he was in battle, or in his hand. Considering how much he was waiting for Allura to jump out and beat the shit out of him, it was needed more than usual.

Keith had sat on the counter, eating a muesli bar, because he wasn’t daring from taking away from his food stash in his bedroom underneath his bed. A light turned on and Keith hissed, before falling off of the counter, landing mostly on his feet.

“Keith?” 

Ah. Hunk.

He popped his head up from behind the counter. “Um… hey,” he gave a small smile and Hunk just looked at him. “I’m gonna go—” he started to walk past Hunk who grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Absolutely not,” he said, pulling Keith back and Keith’s hand darted to his bayard. “I have some things I need to tell you and you’re gonna listen to them.”

Keith gulped.

“I don’t hate you.” Hunk started, which was always a solid start. “I’m not going to start blaming you for Lance— I hate the Galra who had a part in Lance’s… y’know, and you can’t count yourself because I know you’d hold on forever you could’ve.”

Keith nodded, as his eyes watered up. He’d cried so much recently. Couldn’t he go back to an emotionless husk who’s only emotion was rage and anger?

“Second of all, Allura is being awful and if she still can’t see you as Keith Kogane, The Red Paladin, rather than Keith Kogane, some Galra-kid, then she needs to stop being awful and face reality. Third of all.”

Hunk hugged him, tightly and Keith swore he heard some of his bones crack. “We’re here for you buddy, that’s what families are for.”

“I’m not very good at having a family,” Keith laughed between sniffs and Hunk just hugged him a bit tighter, which meant the entire world to him. “They kinda keep leaving.”

“Then we’ll stay.”

And Keith cried harder and Hunk just hugged him and Keith decided that he’d also die and kill for Hunk without any hesitation.

“You have to meet my family,” Hunk said when he eventually let go of Keith, “They’d adopt you on the spot, Ma and Mom would find a way to legally adopt you right then, right there.”

Keith laughed and it felt like there was a weight off of his shoulders for the first time in a long time. Hunk didn’t hate him, nor did Shiro or Pidge, Coran didn’t either.

Allura… Allura was another story. A story that came to a head in a particularly nasty argument which went from Keith not washing the dishes, to Keith purposefully dropping Lance.

“It would not surprise me,” she snapped, as Keith froze completely, reeling from the idea that someone thought he’d kill Lance. “Take Voltron down from the inside.”

There was a beat, or complete silence as everyone held their breaths. Waiting for Keith to explode, and he was going to explode.

“What the fuck?” He started quietly, “I didn’t even know I was Galra until I joined Voltron, sure, the Galra hired me before I knew I was Galra to take a team that I care about down!” He was yelling now, and only going to get louder.

Pidge blocked her ears.

“Sure, I dropped one of my best friends. Because the nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, crying in my bedroom because I believed I didn’t deserve to be comforted! Are those the actions of someone who murdered someone they care about more than anything in the entire universe?”

Coran moved to step in and Shiro stopped him.

“Why would I drop him? For what reason? Because of something I have no control over! The lions can tell if your intentions are true, and if they weren’t at any point Red would know and wouldn’t let me in! That hasn’t happened! You’re blaming me for something that I had no part in, you’re blaming me for the destruction of your entire race.”

Shiro went to step in and Coran stopped him.

“Lance knew!” Keith yelled and let the silence surround them for a while, letting the words sink in. “He didn’t care! He’d be disgusted in you right now!” He yelled again, before spinning on his heel and leaving.

No one went after him and he didn’t want anyone to go after him.

* * *

This time it wasn’t the weird purple-scape. It was Keith, losing control of himself, before smashing his friend’s heads in. 

He woke up with a start, sliding out of bed.

_ Monster. Monster, you’re a monster.  _

Keith stumbled into the kitchen, his eyes resting on the knives for too long, before he stepped back. His eyes were still on the knives, even as he tried to put as much distance between him and the knives as possible.

He was past this. He was better than that.

Still he stared at them. 

One day he could actually lose control. Then his friends would be dead and it would be all his fault. Wouldn’t it just be easier if he stopped that from ever happening? Stopped the risk of his friends getting hurt.

He took a step forward before taking three backwards, scrambling almost to remove himself from the knives. But he couldn’t manage to do it, he was still in the kitchen. Planted there despite his body screaming at him to leave.

_ Monster. _

Clenching and unclenching his hands, he didn’t know what to do. Now, settling for digging his nails into his palms and that worked well enough. It hurt enough that it almost distracted him from… everything.

With a timid step forward he glanced over his shoulder. Waiting for any noises to snap him out of this… whatever it was. Keith stepped forward, slowly but surely and picked up a knife, turning it over in his hands.

_ Monster. _

Knives and swords were his thing, he could do this—

Before he flung the knife back onto the kitchen bench. What was he doing? What the everloving fuck was he doing? It hit the bench with a clatter and Keith couldn’t find it within himself to care about the noise that it made.

So what if everyone woke up?

He turned around.

Shiro. He needed Shiro. He wanted his brother, he didn’t care how weird he was being. Essentially running down the hallway Keith reached Shiro’s door. Knocking on it several times and it opened.

“Yeah? I’m awake—” Shiro said from his desk, before spinning around and looking at Keith. He hadn’t even realised he was crying. “Keith? What’s wrong?”

“Knives,” Keith whispered. “I didn’t do anything, I don’t want to do anything—”

Shiro was out of his chair as soon as he said ‘knives’ wrapping his arms around Keith in a hug that he remembered from when he was a scared eleven-year-old who needed approval and comfort from his brother.

Because no matter how old he got, it seemed that he’d always be the scared little kid who used to sleep outside of Shiro’s room when there were thunderstorms and lightning that cracked throughout the sky.

* * *

When Keith woke up he was in Shiro’s bed, and he felt like he was eleven again. Staring up at the roof, listening for any sounds.

“He tried to hurt himself!” He heard Shiro yell, probably from the dining area. “And I don’t think you helped at all! You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Get 'er Shiro,” Keith muttered into his pillow. Before falling asleep again.

* * *

Eventually when he was dragged from his sleep he did not expect to see Allura sitting on the bed, her hands folded in her lap as she looked straight ahead. Keith yelped, before grabbing a pillow as his defence.

“Oh.” She said, “You are awake.”

Keith didn’t feel drowsy at all anymore. He tensed completely. “What’s wrong?”

“I was wrong,” Allura said firmly. “Those things I said, they were awful and they are not true and I am sorry if I made you think any of those things are true. Because they are not.”

“Oh,” Keith said, rubbing at his eyes, blinking a few times before looking at Allura. She looked less put together than usual, her hair was a mess and she honestly and completely looked tired. “Okay.”

“What?” Allura said, “You are supposed to be mad at me.”

“I’m not,” Keith yawned. “It’s too early for rage.”

“I should have never blamed you for something that you had no part in. I should have never yelled at you for something out of your control, and I am not expecting you to forgive me. I wouldn’t forgive me if I were in your situation.”

With a stretch something in Keith’s back cracked before he looked at Allura. Deciding and pondering over what he was supposed to say. Allura’s eyes were sad, and Keith didn’t want her to look that sad.

Maybe a few months ago he’d draw this out as long as he could. But he’d matured (somewhat) since then. Instead he just nodded. “I forgive you.”

“You were going to hurt yourself because of me.”

“That’s not your fault. It was a build up of,” he waved his hand around like that clarified anything. “Everything over the past, while I suppose. It’s all been a lot, and I wasn’t going to do anything—” he stopped.

“I wasn’t actually going to do anything, I just didn’t trust myself,” Keith finished and Allura nodded. Looking forwards, and away from Keith. Who also looked out awkwardly, not quite sure what to say after that.

They stayed silent for a long moment, which stretched even longer as Keith cracked his neck and fingers, his neck popped in a way that made Allura turn and look at him.

“What was that?”

“The pop?”

“Yeah!” She said, her eyes alight with wonder.

“I cracked my neck,” Keith said casually and Allura’s eyes widened to the size of dinner-plates. “Basically, I think… you’ll have to ask Pidge or Shiro. But something in your neck turns into gas and you’re essentially getting rid of air bubbles.”

“Fascinating!” Allura said, “Does it hurt?”

“Nope, it actually feels kinda nice sometimes,” Keith said and Allura gasped, clamping her hands over her mouth.

It wasn’t a lot, it was barely a start. But it was a start nonetheless, later, when they came out and Pidge had smiled widely, her entire face bright with happiness this time. “This feels like the future,” she said excitedly.

“A part-Galra and and Altean Princess getting along,” she added, bouncing on her heels a little bit. “That’s the future right there.”

Shiro had smiled, Hunk had sniffed and Coran had also smiled. Keith and Allura glanced at each other before giving a shrug. “Pleasure being the future with you Keith,” Allura said and Keith laughed.

Nothing would be alright overnight.

But for the first time, in a long time. Keith felt like maybe, maybe he’d be alright. Even if Lance never came back, even if everything that happened with Lance really was a dream…

He’d be okay.

He had people who cared about him, and people who didn’t care if he was part or even completely Galra. In a universe that was fighting relentlessly, having people who cared and loved you seemed like the strongest weapon of all.

Then he realised how cheesy that was and screwed up his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that got dark. I like to think this is one of the most hopeful chapters in the book, but Keith went through it, luckily we're out of the dark right now. Next chapter is Lance blowing shit up, and a significant tone change.
> 
> Unrelated, but I love writing Pidge & Keith... like it's just so good. I do have trouble writing Hunk and Allura, so I hope they weren't too OOC.
> 
> This was essentially a 'JOE BIDEN IS PRESIDENT SOON HOLY SHIT!' Gift, because I woke up and saw Biden was president (thanks Twitter) then decided I needed to celebrate, so just grinded to get this out.
> 
> Thank you y'all for reading, I love hearing from you guys, so feel free to comment and discuss anything that happened in this chapter. I've further set up some more foreshadowing/clues to future plot points, so feel free to yell at me what you think they are.
> 
> If you want something to read while you wait for the last chapter I'd recommend Recovery, by MsBluebell, it actually made me cry. While it's very dark it's beautiful and I love it with everything I have and then some. It is both fluffy and tragic, so if that's your thing here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/930696


	4. For The Ones Who Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a point. The rebellion starts going in full swing, Lance discovers some things about himself, thanks to a certain good-looking alien prince and Lance thinks he has a way to contact Voltron and (finally) return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up bitches! The last chapter, which might be rushed, but it's also like 12,000+ words...

“Left foot,” Lance chided and Lulio moved his foot back. “Hold that,” Lance said and Lulio rolled his eyes dramatically, before glancing at Lance.

“You’re just staring at me at this point.”

“Maybe I am,” Lance crossed his arms, “Or maybe I’m trying to see if your posture actually needs work, you’re lucky it doesn’t.”

“So you’re staring?” Lulio teased and Lance didn’t say anything, which must’ve been enough of an answer because Lulio laughed, firing, and this time only moving back a smidge instead of being thrown across the room.

Lulio looked at Lance, gesturing to the dummy which was now in bits on the floor. “There, how was that?”

“I preferred the view more.”

“What!” Lulio yelled, “I spend hours perfecting my shooting and you just stare at me! This is outrageous, a crime against my people, I will need to execute you for treason.”

“You’re not the prince yet,” Lance put a hand on his hip and Lulio glared at him. “Nice try, can’t arrest me until you actually have control over your planet. Also you were a prince for like… no time at all, you’re just a kid who works in a bar.”

“You’re just an idiot who fell onto this planet.”

“It’s fate. You’re just mad that I’m cooler than you.”

“I’m mad that you’re more attractive than me,” Lulio crossed his arms and glared. “And if that includes when you beat up Galra, then sure, I’m mad that you’re cooler than me.”

“My ego was not this big when I came here,” Lance lined up his shot, before getting ready to curl his finger around the trigger. Lulio opened his mouth, and Lance moved his right foot for a better stance so Lulio’s mouth closed.

Then the dummy exploded, a piece hitting Lulio in the face who yelped and glared at him. “You’re so getting arrested.”

“Looking forward to it,” Lance shot another dummy, this time in a way that it flung at Lulio who yelled as it slammed into him. He was trying to get the dummy off of him, and failing quite epically. “You need a hand?”

“I need you dead!” Lulio yelled and Lance laughed. “I don’t care if you’re the heir to the Galra empire, get this damn dummy off of me.”

“Say please.”

“We don’t say that on Dubux.”

“Well you can learn,” Lance crouched down next to Lulio who glared at him. “You can do it, I believe in you!” He gave enthusiastic jazz hands and Lulio said what Lance thought was one of the many untranslatable, Dubaxan swears that they had here.

Lulio glared, “I’m going to be a king one day!”

“Well you’re lucky you aren’t now,” Lance poked Lulio in the nose who glared. “C’mon, you can do it. Pleh-ease. Please.”

“Please,” Lulio snapped.

“You only had to ask!” Lance picked up the dummy off of him and Lulio glared enough that Lance was pretty sure that he was just going to pass away under the steely gaze. Lulio glared at him even more somehow. 

He didn’t say anything, just turned around and walked out of what the rebellion had turned into a training room. Lance went off behind him, because despite being here for… however long he’d been here, the only people he’d really spoken to were Lulio and Amori.

“What happens if Amori dies?” Someone asked and Lulio stopped in his tracks, Lance’s arm was immediately on his shoulder. Trying to stop Lulio from psychically fist-fighting someone. “I mean if she’s on the front lines —”

“Shut up!” Lulio yelled and Lance grabbed his shoulder hard, as Lulio struggled in Lance’s grip. “Shut up!”

“Lulio, calm down,” Lance said into his ear. “They’re one of the people on the comms missions, we need them on our side.” Lulio fought for a bit longer against his grip before going slack. 

“I’m sorry about him,” Lance grinned, “The stress from the front starting soon, it’s really getting to everyone.” Lulio made a noise which sounded like a growl, before Lance grabbed him and dragged him to the closest private spot.

Behind a weird tree looking thing, which was a flaming red colour, and leaves would connect to the tree rather than the other way around. “Lulio,” Lance hissed. “You can’t just fight people—”

“It’s my mom!” Lulio argued, trying to fight against Lance but failing to do anything. “They can’t— I can’t lose her,” he said quieter, “I lost my dad… when the Galra took over the castle, he fought them off so we could run— I can’t lose her. She’s all I have,” Lulio finished quietly.

He sniffed, and Lance just put a hand on his shoulder, as he sniffed more aggressively. 

“You won’t,” Lance said, shocking himself at the strength in his voice. “You’re not going to lose her. Amori is brave, she is smart, and she’s not going to leave you alone.”

Lulio nodded, rubbing at his eyes frantically, “I know. But— I just—” he waved a hand like that answered something, and while it didn’t Lance nodded like he understood. “You’re too good Vance.”

“I’m okay,” Lance said and Lulio rolled his eyes. But put a hand on his jaw.

Oh. Okay. Cool, cool, cool, they were doing that? Sure, cool, great even. Lulio opened his mouth to say something, and Lance watched him, waiting for whatever he was saying to be amazing and life altering.

“Vance! Lulio!” Amori’s voice called and Lulio let go of him. Amori was standing by a tent and Lulio looked like he was about to stab someone. She raised an eyebrow at them as they stepped inside her tent.

There was a huge holographic map in the middle of the room, spinning around. Amori was standing behind it, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her grey eyes staring at Lance in the way his girlfriend’s parents used to back at home.

Fantastic.

Lulio rolled his eyes, again, he did not used to do that so much once upon a time. Lance glanced at him, who was looking straight ahead at Amori. What was happening? Lance was scared.

Could his team come find him before whatever went down here would go down?

“Vance could you step outside?”

Oh yeah, that was him. Lance did as he was asked and hovered for a second, the tent had very thin walls made of fabric and so he could basically hear anything they said. Amori sighed.

“Lulio, what is your thing with weird strangers?”

“What’s your thing with mentioning my thing?” Lulio asked, “Let me live my life.”

“You go around talking about how you’re a prince, which is fine, but princes don’t get with whoever they want!” Amori yelled and Lance knew that she knew that he heard that. “Especially not weird strangers who probably aren’t anyone.”

Okay. First of all, rude. Second of all, did Amori want to join the coalition when this was all over and third of all, he was a paladin of Voltron. That was something.

“Hey,” a kid said, one that looked vaguely familiar. “Are you the person who spoke Galran?”

“Yeah?” Lance said slowly, looking at the kid, trying to remember her. She had bright red hair and red eyes, which he didn’t want to think about too much out of the fear of getting super murdered . 

“Thanks for saving me!” She said smiling, “Everyone’s been talking about you, about how you’re super cool and super strong and how the prince is totally in love with you.”

“Oh? Really?” Lance asked and the girl nodded enthusiastically. 

“Apparently the prince is in love!” She sang and Lance laughed. “Gross, so everyone wants to know who you even are. Are you a bounty hunter?”

“Not quite.”

“A scientist?”

“Nope.”

“A super cool ancient warrior!” She yelled, causing a few people to look in their direction.

“Not quite,” Lance smiled again, before ruffling the girls hair who laughed and tried to slap him in the arm and landed a hit, making Lance wince. The Dubaxan’s really knew how to pack a punch.

The girl grinned before running off, leaving Lance there, quite shell shocked. “Right.” He said, “Cool.” Lance stood there for a moment, before Lulio popped out of the tent. Scowling.

“Who are you?” Lulio snapped and the way his mood changed was something impressive. “Who are you really, I doubt you’re a bounty hunter.”

Lance sighed, he needed to get his armour anyway, he needed more than a gauntlet and wanted to at least be wearing his own armour if he was going to beat up the Galra. That armour had been left in Red.

He started walking, not caring one way or the other if Lulio followed him or not. But was met with footsteps behind him. “What are you doing?”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Lance kept his eyes straight ahead. “That would actually jeopardize the rebellion. The Galra can’t know that I was here, otherwise you’re in a lot of trouble.”

“What? Tell me who you are.”

“My name isn’t Vance. It’s Lance, I panicked when Amori was questioning me and I said the first thing that came to mind,” they had a lot further to walk, Lance’s gauntlet projected the map again and they kept walking. 

“Lance?”

“Yeah…” he sighed, before turning slightly, now they were on track to find the cave he’d left Red in. “You can’t tell anyone, not Amori, not your subjects or whatever you want to call them. This stays between you and me.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Probably,” Lance kicked up some red dirt and a dust cloud swirled around them. “In fact yeah, look, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but this way you know I’m at least someone.”

Lulio paused, and Lance took a few more steps before realising that he wasn’t following him. Lance eventually spun around and looked at him.

“You’re revealing your secret identity because my mom said I can’t get with randoms?”

“I’m revealing my secret identity because if I die here I need someone to contact my team and tell them everything,” he looked at Lulio. “And you’re basically the only one here I trust.”

“Oh!” Lulio said, before nodding a few times and he started walking again, Lance walked next to him and they stayed in complete and utter silence. The cave was in the distance and Lance started walking faster.

Before breaking out into a run, Lulio squawked behind him. “Wait, Lance! When did you get fast?”

Lance kept running, before skidding into the cave. It was made of red rock everywhere, with small bits of greenery placed every now and again, showing that there was life here and was one of the reasons Lance had actually gotten out of Red.

There, in all her glory was Red. Sitting tall, with the shield around her, looking almost peaceful as she rumbled the floor, like snoring. Lance tried to tap into his connection with her, and wake her up. 

It wasn’t a connection like him and Blue. Lance barely had any control over Red, but he hoped it was enough to wake her up and get his armour from inside.

“V— Lance what are you…” Lulio trailed off behind him and Lance turned so he was looking at him rather than at Red. His eyes were impossibly wide and he staggered backwards a little. Before resting his eyes on Lance. “This is real?”

Lance gave a single nod, before Lulio’s eyes travelled back to Red. Looking at her, just looking at her like Red somehow held the entire universe in her eyes, before gawking at her. Taking a step forward.

Then his eyes settled on Lance, still filled with the same amount of amazement and wonder. “You’re a paladin?”

“Yeah.”

“Of Voltron?”

“Yeah.” He sighed and Lulio just blinked a few times, before shaking his head and rubbing his eyes like this wasn’t real, and was just a dream.

“That’s why no one can know? Because then they’ll try and take—”

“Red. Yeah. And they’ll decimate the planet with it,” Lance said, before tapping on Red’s shield and Red hummed. 

“What else?” Lulio asked, “There’s more to that.”

“Probably take anyone important to the arena and make them fight. You, Amori, any other figure heads and make you fight until you lose one,” Lance’s tone was grim. “I guess you can figure out what else happens.”

“Have you been there?” Lulio asked, moving some dirt around with his foot. “The arena?”

“No,” Lance said, tapping on Red’s shield again. Who stirred a little bit as the shield flickered for a second before going back up again. “Someone I know did, he doesn’t remember a lot, or talk about what he does remember— he has nightmares. You hear him yelling a lot at night.”

“The Galra are despicable,” Lulio’s face twisted up on Galra and for some reason, something stirred in Lance’s gut. Why did he have to defend Keith? He didn’t have to defend Keith, but he was going to anyway.

Lance tapped again, “They’re not all bad, one of my friends. Not a Voltron one,” he lied, he’d been lying this entire time, he could lie a little bit more to keep Keith’s secret safe. “He’s part Galra, and he’s one of most annoyingly kind and caring people I know.”

Lulio looked at him, narrowing his eyebrows as the shield weakened slightly.

“He’s the kind of guy that does nice things for no reason… it’s rude, because you can’t do anything nice because you don’t know about it, but you just know that he’s doing something nice,” the shield flickered long enough that Lance could’ve walked in if he hadn’t been distracted. “People think Galra are all evil or monsters, and lots of them may be. But if they’d grown up in a culture not about murder…” he trailed off.

“Evil,” Lulio shook his head. “Galra killed my dad. The Galra oppressed my people, I’m not going to think they’re all great and nice people because you’re friends with someone who is part Galra.”

Lance shook his head, as the shield fell apart and Red purred to life, her mouth opening and Lance stepped inside, looking around before finding his armour and helmet crumpled on the ground.

Without the undersuit his armour didn’t look too Voltrony, the only thing that gave him away was the dip in the helmet and the ‘V’ pattern across the chestplate. But that could’ve stood for anything, and if anyone asked he was going to say it meant ‘Vanquisher’ and he could make up some story about that.

He wasn’t sure how many Galra generals had ever actually seen paladin armour, and if they’d be able to tell. The undersuit generally was the biggest clue, and the armour did look clunky and like any old armour with other clothes underneath it.

Maybe he could paint over the ‘V’? He picked up the mess of his armour, holding it in his arms and walking out. Where Lulio was staring at Red, his eyes still wide and alight with wonder.

“I can’t believe you’re actually a paladin,” he said, “I honestly thought Voltron was just a myth, something to hide other people doing the real work. Something to send everyone on a wild goose chase.”

“Nah,” Lance laughed. “It’s real, too real sometimes.”

“How did you get separated. From Voltron?”

“Me and the actual red paladin were on a mission. Um… it went very pear-shaped and he wasn’t going to be able to get us both over and if he held on for me too long we’d both fall into a giant pit of lava. So I let go—”

“They think you’re dead?”

“Yeah,” Lance sighed. “I let go and I think Red, that’s this one, saved me. Maybe we have a connection? It’s not that strong as I have basically no control over her. I’m the blue paladin,” he rustled the armour in his arms to prove his point. “Hence the armour.”

“Don’t you have a weapon?”

“I dropped it,” Lance muttered. “I think my team has it.” He looked up for a second, like his team was up. “So no, I don’t have my super cool weapon and it’s a scam,” Lance sighed, before handing Lulio some of his armour who took it. 

Lulio just looked at him. “Wait… you’re a paladin. Have fought for planets and is one of the single biggest rebel forces in the universe, and you dropped your weapon?”

“Shut up!” Lance groaned, “I’m not some sort of deity, I’m still human.”

“Still what?”

“Human? It means I’m flawed.”

“So I’m a human?” Lulio asked.

“No.”

“I’m flawless then, oh V— Lance!”

“No, it’s my species. Human. And that saying means like all humans I am flawed.”

“I’m not human then, because I am flawless,” Lulio ran a hand through his hair and laughed at himself as Lance rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I think you’ve proved that you’re not some random…” 

Lance almost dropped his armour.

“Yeah?”

“So my mom has to approve.”

“There’s nothing to approve of,” Lance said, clutching his armour tight enough that his knuckles turned white.

“Do you want there to be?” Lulio asked, his voice low in a way that was doing something to Lance. His heart was beating fast now, a different type of fast to when he fought for his life. This felt, nice, normal, like he was a chaotic teenager rather than a soldier.

Red growled and hit Lulio, with a swipe of her paw. Sending him flying across the cave and Lance made a noise before looking at Red. 

_ No.  _ Is all Red supplied. 

“What do you mean no?” Lance whispered back frantically, “You don’t get a say in who I kiss or don’t kiss!” He glared at Red who glared back at him. 

_ No. _

“You can’t say no!” Lance whispered back, sounding more frantic than last time. “We were having a moment Red, and you decided to yeet him across the room like Loki in Thor Ragna— nevermind.”

_ No. Not him. _

“You don’t decide that.”

_ I am part of you. I know what’s better for you. _

“You don’t decide that,” he repeated, nudging her paw with his foot. “Now stop being awful and rest up.”

_ He’s not the one.  _

Lance rolled his eyes, before walking back over to Lulio, holding out his hand and pulling him onto his seats as Lulio blinked, before looking at Red. “That was cool, can she do that again—”

“Nope!” Lance glared at Red. “She isn’t going to throw you around the room anymore.”

_ Bet.  _ Red chided and Lance threw a rock at her, which bounced back and hit Lance in the forehead.

“You’re the worst lion!”

_ You’re my best paladin.  _ Red purred and Lance dropped his armour all over again.  _ You’re the most like Alfor out of Keith and yourself… and you’re so different to the both of them. _

“Still the worst,” Lance muttered, picking up his armour as Lulio helped him. Glaring at Red. Before walking out, leaving Red who’s shield flickered before standing proud and tall. Lulio was bouncing on his feet.

“Did that just happen? That just happened,” Lulio grabbed onto Lance’s arm. “I got thrown by an ancient lion. Holy shit. I would die for her, one day I’m going to tell my grandkids this story and they’re not gonna believe me.”

“What, that you kissed a paladin of Voltron?”

“Yeah— wait,” Lulio paused. “What?”

Lance just gave a coy smile and kept walking, as Lulio made a noise and ran next to him, his arms flapping. “You can’t say that and run off— are you being serious or not? Or are we gonna kiss and you’ll freak out because somehow throughout this you didn’t realise you were truipo!”

“Truipo?” Lance repeated, “We don’t have that word.”

“Uh… likes the same gender? I dunno how your gender works, but here there’s some stigma. Not a lot but since the Galra rocked up it’s—”

“Gay?” Lance asked, “That’s our word.”

“Truipo, reveio or xiv?”

“Um?”

“Same gender, any genders, opposite gender,” Lulio waved a hand. “Are you xiv?”

“No…” Lance said quietly, “I don’t know what I am… but I know that—”

“You want to kiss me?” Lulio nudged Lance and Lance hit him with his helmet that he was holding and Lulio laughed loudly next to him. “I knew you liked me at least a little bit!” He nudged Lance again and he scowled.

“Go away,” Lance complained. “Tomorrow we’re fighting in a rebellion and then I’ll leave—”

“So?” Lulio asked. Before grabbing the armour from Lance’s arms. “Just for once, do we have to be a prince and a paladin? We can just be? Does the future matter, all we have is now.”

Lance forgot how to speak.

“The future we don’t know. Right now we can know, if we chose so,” Lulio took another step forward, the armour was forgotten and dumped on the ground between them. He settled his hand on Lance’s jaw.

Cool. Cool. Great.

“Can I?” Lulio asked, his voice quiet in the day surrounding them. His eyes searching Lance’s and Lance forgot how to speak again. English. English wasn’t even on his mind right now.

“Apúrate y bésame,” Lance whispered, and Lulio must’ve gotten the idea because he leaned in, cradling Lance’s jaw.

For once Lance was just a seventeen year old kid, being an idiot and doing whatever the hell he wanted. The threat of war didn’t loom, if even for a split second and that was nice. 

Lulio made a noise when Lance grabbed his hair and Lance pulled back, “You good?” He asked as Lulio turned a violent shade of red, which Lance didn’t even know Dubaxan’s could do. 

“You talk too much,” Lulio hummed. Before going in again, Lance didn’t mind.

_ He’s not the one.  _ Red hummed in the back of his mind, again, ruining another moment.  _ But I like him. _

* * *

The purple dream-scape had become annoyingly normal, something that Lance was completely used to, it felt oddly familiar for something that had only happened a couple of times. 

They were both in their armour, despite the fact that Lance’s armour had been painted over with a white paint. In the dreamscape for some reason it was still blue and unpainted here, but that wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened so Lance didn’t think too hard about it.

“Hey!” Lance yelled and Keith turned around, “Have you seen a guy with a really bad haircut from before my grandparents were born?”

“Yeah actually, he was looking for a guy with a really stupid face. I’m guessing that’s you?” Keith shot back and Lance grinned. “So what have you been doing?”

“Helping with a rebellion,” Lance said and Keith nodded a few times. 

“Did you get chokeslammed?” Keith asked and Lance slapped his hand to one side of his neck. “Oh—” his eyes bugged out and Lance wanted to laugh but instead he was rapidly turning an interesting shade of red. 

“Shut up,” Lance mumbled, fending off Keith who was trying to poke his neck. “Go away!”

Keith stopped, before laughing. “Only you Lance, only you.”

“What?”

“Get a hickey, I’m presuming you at least made out with someone. While you’re, fighting in a rebellion,” Keith laughed again and Lance flipped him off, causing Keith to somehow laugh even harder.

It was a crazy situation. Nothing made sense, nothing was making sense at all. Lance could die tomorrow, Keith could die tomorrow, Lance could never see his friends ever again.

But right now he was here with Keith, and that was all that mattered.

This entire situation felt strangely domestic, strangely natural, like that it was supposed to just be them insulting each other into the emptiness of space, then getting a bit too real and comforting the other one. It was nice. It felt like home.

Keith glanced at him, before tearing his eyes away. Looking out at the purpleness surrounding then, his bangs falling into his face as Lance couldn’t tear his eyes away from him. “If this is a dream,” Keith laughed, “You’re one of the best things I’ve dreamed of.”

Lance nudged Keith with his shoulder, smiling softly as Keith glanced at him. “I’ve done worse.”

“You’re awful,” Keith muttered and Lance just laughed at him.

* * *

Lance was staring into his food, stirring it around the bowl as Lulio sat in front of him, with his own food, already half eaten as he hauled armour onto the table. Some of it was Lance’s, where the blue had been painted over in the darkness of that night.

The other bit looked like it mattered, it was a burnt orange colour, with scratches in the paint, or whatever it was. Lulio’s smile was impossibly wide and Lance blinked at him lazily, before Lulio rolled his eyes.

“You’re not the only one with cool armour,” he grinned and Lance gave a grin, while lazy, was still real back. “This is my dad’s,” Lulio’s smile dropped a little bit, and became more bittersweet. 

“I like the colour,” Lance said truthfully and Lulio smiled widely. “Looks like flames.”

“Are you alright?” Lulio leant his elbows on the table, “What’s up?”

Lance shrugged and Lulio’s eyebrows furrowed. “Talk to me.”

“I dunno,” Lance looked around, scanning around as more and more people showed up to start causing mayhem. “I really dunno, I just sorta feel… out of it.”

“Like how?”

“I don’t really know, like… all the emotions have been sucked outta me, everything feels kinda foggy too. It’s really weird,” Lance shrugged and Lulio nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. “Maybe I’m nervous.”

Lulio shrugged not looking for an answer, before eyeing Lance’s neck and Lance glared at him. “Shut up.”

“How easily do humans bruise?”

“You attacked me!” Lance argued.

Lulio rolled his eyes, “I did not.”

“You attacked me.”

“Do you want me to attack you?” Lulio asked.

“W— what does that mean? I’m scared.”

“Be scared,” Lulio said and Lance responded by shoving some food into his mouth and that must’ve been Lulio’s plan because he smiled and Lance couldn’t help but snicker at this dork. “Ready to take back my planet?”

Lance finished his food, with a nod and slid the bowl across the table to look dramatic, which was slightly spoiled when it toppled over and hit the ground, scrambling to pick it up and putting it on the table. Before looking around to see if anyone saw him being an idiot. No one did. Apart from Lulio who was cry-laughing.

“Lulio!” Amori snapped, her eyes moved to Lance next. “Vance.”

“That’s you,” Lulio whispered and Lance followed after him. Before going into Amori’s tent. Who had her arms crossed and her eyes were looking everywhere but Lance.

Lulio crossed his arms too, his posture changed completely when he was around Amori. It straightened up, his face became sterner, his eyes colder, he looked like he was supposed to be a prince when he was next to Amori. Normally he just looked like a kid who had worked in a bar most of his life, which was also true.

Amori’s eyes landed on Lance and went around to the bruise on his neck. It wasn’t even that obvious, did people just have a sense for hickeys. She looked at Lulio, sighing. “Lulio.”

“Okay,” Lance said, “I’ve had enough of this, you don’t get a say with what your son does and who it’s with. First of all, there’s a rebellion to attend you, second of all, don’t be a judgy bitch. Third of all, I don’t give a fuck if you’re a queen you’re not incharge of your son. Let him live, woman!”

Lulio and Amori just looked at him, their eyes confused. “What does bitch mean?” Lulio asked, starting to count on his fingers. “And fuck, and woman?”

Lance waved a hand, “Bitch and fuck are swear words. Woman is like… nevermind, it’s not a swear word.” 

Amori’s eyes were on fire and not in a good way, Lance stood his ground, crossing his arms. Eyeing the gun in the corner, he’d be able to snatch that up if something went completely wrong then there would be a gun that he could use to do… shooting. He was good at that.

“How dare you speak to me like that? You’re no one, you’re some forgettable boy who landed on this planet and thinks he’s amazing because he knows some fancy tricks and he knows something about the Galra.”

Lulio just sighed and Lance wasn’t going to back down, he wasn’t the type to. He hadn’t been since he was young, and wasn’t going to start backing down now. Amori prodded him in the chest and Lance stood firmer.

“I am someone. Do you really want to know who I am?”

“Lance…” Lulio trailed off before he clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Lance?” Amori repeated, she sighed. “Who are you?”

“The Blue Paladin,” Lance looked Amori dead in the eye. “And I think you know why I didn’t tell anyone, and why I shouldn’t be telling you right now.”

Amori just laughed, “You’re not.” Her eyes trailed to Lulio behind him, and her eyes widened before landing back on Lance. “You… you’re not lying aren’t you?”

“No.”

Letting out a slew of words that didn’t translate and judging by the way that Lulio winced as she said them, Lance took a wild guess and said that they were swear words. Amori finally took a deep breath before looking between them.

“Your job is to knock out the main communication tower,” Amori said, eyeing Lulio sternly. “That is all. You get in, set off the explosive and get out. Don’t get distracted, you don’t have extra time to do whatever you want.”

She grabbed two pouched which Lance assumed would go on their armour. One of them was red, and the other was blue. “The red one’s the explosive.” She handed that to Lulio. “The blue one is a scrambler, essentially it can knock out all of the sentries and machinery in a certain area.” 

Amori gave that one to Lance, before keeping eye contact. “Keep my boy safe, I don’t care who you are, if he gets hurt you have to answer to me… his mother.”

“Much scarier,” Lance agreed and Lance was almost sure she smiled. “Stay safe.”

Lulio pushed Lance to the side before wrapping his arms around Amori, hugging her hard, like this may be the last time. The sort of hug Lance wished he’d hugged his mother with before he left. They stayed there for longer than they needed to, and Lance couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Eventually Lulio let her go, his eyes slightly redder than they were before. “Stay safe, otherwise you have a paladin and me going to murder you,” Lulio said and Amori smiled at him.

“I’m proud of you.”

“I know,” Lulio smiled back, almost goofily. “Thanks for, y’know being my mother.”

“Stop speaking like this is a goodbye,” Amori said, pushing hair out of her son's face. “We’ll see each other again.”

“I know.”

“We’re sending out the comms team,” Amori pushed more hair out of his face. “We’ll be alright, after all of this I’m going to be queen and you’re going to finally be allowed to be a child again.”

Was Lance going to cry? Probably.

Lulio laughed, “I love you,” then hugged her tightly and Lance didn’t say anything because all he could see was what he should’ve said to his mom before he left. 

“Let’s go,” Lulio said, before turning around, walking out of the tent, his eyes set straight ahead and Lance followed behind him, as Lulio walked back over to their table. He looked at the armour for a second.

Before starting to put it on. Lulio didn’t really know what he was doing, so between Lance sliding on his own armour he fastened clips on Lulio’s before pulling the chestplate down over Lulio’s chest. Lance tapped it and he was met with green eyes looking straight at him. 

They were close, Lance’s eyes darted down before he started pulling on the chestplate again. “Lance.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, no.”

“We could both die.”

“Yeah, we could,” he walked around Lulio before tightening the chestplate. 

“Shouldn’t we do one dumb thing… just in case.”

“I think we have very definitions of a dumb thing,” Lance tightened it a bit more, before trying to move Lulio’s chestplate and was happy with it when it didn’t move. “We need to go.”

Lance tucked his helmet underneath his arm, sloppily painted over the blue in a white colour which made him look quite a lot like a stormtrooper. He looked at Lulio who nodded before looking at Lance. His eyes were earnest and honest.

“For good luck?” Lance said and Lulio kissed him.

It was messy and slightly desperate, but Lance wasn’t complaining. It was short, but not less meaningless. Lulio pulled them apart before sighing. “You’re leaving after this, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lance said breathlessly, his mind still reeling from the kiss as he tried to clear his brain into something slightly logical.

“Okay,” he said, “I get it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Then that was that.

They clambered into one of the small shuttle things, although they seemed more like hoverboards, and Lulio started driving. The engine spluttered to life and Lance yelped, grabbing onto Lulio’s shoulders as the hoverboard thing surged forward. 

Lulio laughed above the wind as they tipped precariously and Lance yelped again as Lulio managed to laugh harder. As they ducked and weaved past people and other things that were just flashes.

Eventually after more laughter and whirring before Lulio stopped. Staring up and Lance’s eyes followed up to a huge looming palace, tower, situation. 

Light was flooding out of the palace, lighting up almost every bit of land around the said palace. Lance hummed, that was smart, that was a really smart thing to do. Especially if you thought there was an invasion coming.

Which there was. But that was beside the point, and honestly this was kinda rude.

The palace had spikes on it, purple spikes which clashed horribly with the orange-brown colour that the palace actually was. Three guesses to who had put the spikes there. They started with G and ended with… Ra.

With lots of light however, came a lot of shadows. So all they had to do was find the said shadow and then they were in. The only problem was that the shadow didn’t appear to be in abundance right now.

“So…” Lulio said, “What’s the plan?”

“Oh God,” Lance muttered. 

“What’s God?”   
  


“Nevermind,” Lance waved a hand before looking around, the only thing they had was a hoverboard looking thing, their armour and two kinda explosive things which they needed to keep intact. Cool.

After this he was going to formally thank Amori for doing shit all to help them, he furrowed his brows before opening his gauntlet up and Lulio let out a small gasp next to him. So most space-armour didn’t do that then.

He hummed, trying to find Pidge’s programming so he could stick it into the palace and hopefully crash all the lights and maybe get some sort of up to date map on his gauntlet. The programs and whatever other bullshit that Pidge had uploaded was sorted chaotically, he’d have to sort that out when he got back to The Castle.

“This could take a hot second,” Lance said and Lulio looked at him.

“Second?”

“A tick,” He clarified, before opening and closing a bunch of programs with weird names and trying to figure out what they did. “This’ll take a while.”

“How many programs are on that thing?”

“As many as Pidge uploaded,” Lance sighed. “At least a thousand.” He tapped on his comms, mainly to see what would happen and was met with static. So his comms were broken, broken then.

Lulio sighed, “We’re in a rush here!”

“Then rush in!” Lance yelled back, “See what happens.”

“Maybe I will!” But he stayed where he was and crouched next to Lance who was swiping through programs like his life depended on it. 

“Fuck Zarkon,” Lance muttered. “Stupid, ugly ass hoe,” as he again couldn’t find the program that he needed. He knew Pidge made it, and he knew for sure it got uploaded to all of their gauntlets. He’d been there when she’d done it.

“I have no idea what any of those words mean,” Lulio responded and Lance ignored him.

“Here!” Lance said, before sighing and bookmarking it because he was not going through that again. He looked around. “We need a control panel.”

“A control panel?” Lulio repeated. “How—”

“There’s one on the spikes,” Lance said easily. Before using his helmet to zoom in on the spikes and found the one with the control panel. “They think it’s impossible to get up there.”

“Is it?” Lulio asked and Lance stayed silent for too long. “Lance…”

Lance was looking around him, before at the hoverboard. He had a jetpack too. And basically indestructible armour, which was explosion-proof. He’d had experience with that. Tapping his foot on the ground Lance grabbed the hoverboard.

“What are you doing?”

He was swiping through a bunch of programs, trying to find one of the ones that Pidge used to explode ships that she’d gotten access to. All Lance had to do was do that here, explode the hoverboard and use that to propel him midair and hopefully get enough momentum to get to the spike.

“Lance.”

“How far could you throw me?”

“What?”

“How far could you throw me, with the help of a jetpack.”

“A jetpack? You have a jetpack!”

“Uh,” he remembered his battered jetpack. Before lifting up his boots, one of them was partially melted, probably from the lava. So he had one jet boot which would only be able to glide.

Great. Fantastic, one might say. Lance sighed deeply. Before looking at the palace then at Lulio. “Get on your knees.”

“What? This really isn’t the time—”

“Hands and knees.”

“Nothing good ever starts like this,” Lulio muttered. “Can I at least know what you’re doing?”

“Nothing to you.”

Lulio’s face dropped, “Oh, come on.”

Lance picked up the hoverboard, grabbing a small wire out of his gauntlet to transfer the programing, glancing between the hoverboard, his gauntlet, the palace and Lulio. “Well?”

“You’re no fun,” Lulio muttered, but got on his hands and knees even if he was smirking like an idiot and Lance kicked him in the side and Lulio looked up and glared at him. “What are you even doing— if you wanted me on my knees—”

Lance responded by standing on Lulio’s back. “Hey! Oh you’re heavy.”

He got ignored for that, and Lance lined up as Lulio protested. Okay, this would just be like training that one time, that one time when he fell on his face after trying to use his backpack for more than three seconds.

If everything went horribly he had a grappling hook, unless that was somehow broken too and it probably was. Lance took a deep breath, as Lulio continued to protest and Lance continued to ignore him.

Lance lept, one of his boots roaring and the other spluttering, enough to keep him in the air mostly straight. Lulio yelped as Lance scrambled to get the hoverboard down by his feet, ready to explode.

Pressing a button on his gauntlet the hoverboard beeped, before Lance dropped it as it exploded. Sending Lance flying forward towards the reddish-orange stone of the palace as he tumbled over himself mid-air, scrambling to grab onto something as the rockets in his boots tried to straighten him up and failed spectacularly. Letting him tumble over and over, seeing things flash in a blur.

His grappling hook. He needed that. He held his arm out, hoping that his ancient suit that was supposed to bend to his every desire. There was a noise a zipping noise as he was jerked forward completely, before landing on something like a ramp as he slid down.

The roof. He was on the roof. Lance yelped and held onto his zipline, his legs dangling over the side as he kicked them, managing to scramble up onto the roof before breathing heavily, looking down at Lulio.

“Gracias al cielo,” he muttered to himself, before standing up. Taking a moment to gain his balance as he stumbled over to the control panel. Pulling off the remains of the hoverboard and walking over to the control panel.

He needed the override program which was— there. Pulling that one up he plugged that into the control panel. Then looked for the one that would hopefully blow up the lights, then found that quickly.

Looking around at Lulio he waved and Lulio waved back, still only moving a bit in the darkness. Then he looked for a map to download, and found one and downloaded that quickly before hitting the program.

The lights exploded with a snapping noise and the entire area was thrown into darkness. As Lance opened the map in front of him and dropped off the side of the building. Using his zipline to catch him in a very Spider-Man way. Lulio ran over as Lance faltered in his step, waiting for Lulio to catch up.

“Send that to me,” Lulio said and Lance did without the slightest hesitation. Going towards a back door that the map said was there. 

They crouched beside the door as Lance tried to figure out the shortest route there, taking his gun from Lulio and his eyebrows furrowed together. It wasn’t that far away from where they were.

Just the guards quarters were in the way. Lance hummed before looking at Lulio who was seeing the same thing that he was and they made eye contact. “What’s the plan?” Lulio asked.

There was a pinprick in the back of his brain. Lance couldn’t explain it if he wanted to. The pinprick which made Lance react without meaning to, pushing Lulio down before bringing up his shield.

Several laser shots were sent at them a split second later which got absorbed by the shield as Lance froze for a moment.

What had made him do that? It was such a Keith thing, he had a second sense for a fight and battles. Eventually a laser shot broke him out of his daze and he fired his own shots into the wave of sentries.

They went down with whirs and when the hallway looked clear Lance stopped crouching and retracted his shield, Lulio just stared at him. “That was hot.”

“You’re about to be a hot pile of ash, head in the game Lulio.”

“Head in the what—”

Lance grabbed a sentry hand, slicing it off completely and handing it to Lulio who didn’t say a thing and held it. He glanced back down at his map, trying to see where on Earth he was actually supposed to be going.

Oh. Yeah. Distraction.

“We still need a distraction,” Lulio complained and Lance nodded.

“I got it,” Lance said, opening the downloaded programs. There was one that Pidge had done with a sentry body that she’d gotten Keith and Hunk to haul back to the castle, and it would be perfect for this. Again, it took him a while to find the program as they were sorted by a fourteen-year-old who didn’t know that her teammates would need them later. “Aha!” He said.

Using the small wire he had to transfer programs he started hooking it up to the sentries as Lulio looked at him. “I’d like to formally thank Pidge Holt for being a genius and saving our skin.”

“Who?”

“Pidge Holt, the fuckin’ genius nerd who we’d be fucking dead without,” Lance said and Lulio looked at him. “You don’t need to understand the words.” Lulio nodded as Lance unplugged the final sentry before looking down at his map and plotting a course.

They whirred to life and Lulio jumped, holding his gun up which Lance pointed away. The sentries started moving and Lance pulled Lulio with him, who was still wary. Eyeing every sentry with suspicious eyes.

“It’s fine Lul’.”

“Lul’?”

“I dunno, your name’s hard to shorten?”

“Lio?”

“Fuck.”

Lulio laughed as Lance pulled them into the centre of the cluster. His hand over the kill switch just in case, somehow this went horribly wrong. 

Knowing his luck it probably would. 

Slowly they approached the armoury and the sentries veered off into there and Lance stood by the door, getting ready to record this for later reference. Science. This was for science. The sentries stood there perfectly still. Unblinkingly moving, like they were off and Lance hit the record button.

Then they started dabbing. (Pidge’s suggestion from an old meme from like the 2010’s) and doing other cringey dances that his Grandparents cringed at when Lance and his siblings would do them and more dances his parents would shudder at.

“Baby shark.” They sang monotonously and Lance bolted down the hallway as Lulio did too, “Baby shark!” And Lance bit his lip to stop himself from roaring with laughter. “Doo doo, doo doo doo doo. Baby shark.”

“What?” Lulio asked, “What’s a shark? Why isn’t that word translating.”   
  


“An animal.”

“Why are they doo doo, doo doo, doo dooing?” Lulio asked and Lance waved his hand, running down the hallway. Before pausing in front of the door as static buzzed in his ear before a raspy voice came through.

_ “Prince Lulio,”  _ someone said on the other line.  _ “Your mother…” _

Lance watched Lulio’s face fall completely, before he shook his head. “No. No. No, no, you’re wrong. She’s okay!” He yelled back into the comm and all Lance could do was make sure that no one was going to shoot Lulio in the back.

“She’s okay,” he repeated. “She—” and Lulio made a small noise. A noise that Lance would remember for as long as he lived, it was broken almost resigned. “Everyone leaves,” he sighed. This time not into the comm and a pang of sympathy twanged in his gut.

Keith also hated being alone. Or maybe not alone, being left. Essentially Keith had abandonment issues and it seemed that Lulio did too and Lance didn’t know what to do about it.

He couldn’t stay.

Lulio took a deep breath before looking ahead, his eyes firm at the door that stood at the end of the hallway. “Lulio—”

“Don’t.” He snapped.

“I can stay—”

“No you can’t,” Lulio said, a sentry jumped out at them and Lulio didn’t hesitate to send it cascading to the ground with a shot of his gun. “So don’t say you can when you can’t, don’t make false promises.”

“If you want to leave,” Lance said, pulling Lulio behind a wall as a bunch of sentries walked past. “I get it. I can do this.”

Lulio didn’t say anything and Lance took that as Lulio staying. He blinked a couple of times, some water out of his eyes before shaking his head. Standing up straight again, his posture had gone all princey again.

Lance opened his mouth to say something and Lulio must’ve sensed it. “Don’t.” So he didn’t and stayed quiet, not saying anything at all as Lulio took a deep breath before surging forwards again.

The door was close, just at the end of the hall. Lance heard whirring inside and metal moving, there were a heap of sentries in there, he grabbed Lulio back and looked at him. “There are sentries in there.”

He struggled in Lance’s grip. “Let me fight every single one of them,” he said and Lance pulled him back. “I’m going to kill them!”

Lance shook his head and the other boy scowled, his green eyes meeting Lance’s blue. “We can’t,” he whispered, even if it was more of a yell. “I have a plan. Trust me.”

“You’re leaving, I don’t trust you,” the comment was biting, scathing and it hurt Lance more than it probably should’ve. Lance instead of yelling back, nodded a few times and spun around.

Grabbing the blue pouch off his side he pushed the door open a smidge. Before rolling the sphere— scrambler, they’d called it a scrambler, into the room with a soft beeping. Walking backwards as there was the sound of something frying then metal hitting the ground.

Waiting for a second Lance strained his ears to hear any more sentries moving, and heard nothing. Only the noise that he presumed that the main comm tower was making. Lance opened the door fully to be met with a pile of sentries on the ground. Two pillars were holding up the roof sentries leaning up against those pillars.

In the middle of the room was what Lance would describe as a giant computer. He walked over, trying to see if he knew how to use anything and much to his delight found the same system that The Castle used.

He could contact his team.

“What are you doing?” Lulio whispered frantically. “It was in and out, not doing whatever you want to!”

“We don’t have the go ahead to blow it up,” he returned, turning one of the knobs and the right frequency popped up. Now he just needed to find the right channel and he’d be able to contact the castle. “We have some time.”

“You’re jeopardizing this!” Lulio yelled, “Your needs don’t come over the planets and our orders.”

“It’s my only shot,” Lance grit his teeth as he flicked through channels. Hearing nothing of value. “And I’m going to try and see my families again.” 

Then Lance was sent sprawling across the room, Lulio had pushed him. And his gun was pointed at Lance. “Stop it!” He yelled, “Stop it! You’re going to fail this rebellion!”

Lance stared at the gun pointed at him, his own gun was thrown back near the computer part of the tower. He stared up at Lulio. Who was staring back down at him, his hands and gun shaking as he pointed it at him.

“I have people I need to get home to,” Lance said, keeping his voice calm. “I have a team I need to get back to. Lulio, please.”

“I have my people, I need to be freed,” Lulio responded harshly. “And if you’re getting in the way of that.”

“I’m not getting it the way!” Lance argued, “I am doing one thing, one thing. You’re wasting time by doing this!” Lance took a deep breath, before firing one of his rocket boots. Flying into the air and landing behind Lulio before pressing his forearm into his throat, putting him in a chokehold.

Lulio spluttered and Lance loosened his grip. “I’m not trying to hurt you, you need to calm down.” He let go of Lulio who immediately tried to hit him and Lance brought up his shield as Lulio yelled in pain when his fist met the shield.

Stumbling over to the computer he kept punching in the numbers he needed, his shield protecting his back as he kept going. Until all he had to put in was a ‘7’ and then he was through to The Castle.

He was almost there. He could almost go home.

Then again there was a buzzing, in the back of his head. 

And for some reason he threw himself at Lulio, shielding him with his own body as the world around them shook for some reason, metal scraped and buzzing doubled. Something lodged itself into Lance’s back and Lance let out a cry.

It was splitting pain. Lance whimpered as Lulio looked up at him in horror. Slowly, Lance reached for his gun, stumbling off of Lulio and looking around. A group of sentries. Fantastic. Great even.

His back was ripping with every movement he made. Lance looked around. There had to be an easy way out of this, an easier way. He looked up. The roof. He could collapse the roof, it was being held up by two flimsy pillars.

Lulio was under the computer, reloading his gun as the sentries advanced. There was a ledge that would protect him. Lance had his shield. He could collapse the roof, then they could blow it up and get out of here.

Lance held his shield up above his head. Firing at one pillar and then the other as Lulio screamed as the roof went down. He held his shield above his head. Before realising something with horror.

He couldn’t hold up an entire roof. Shield or not.

“Fuck,” Lance muttered, as the crunch of sentries as his arms shook from holding the weight of a roof. He was kneeling now, trying to hold up the roof, as his arms started aching with the strain. Lulio was yelling something. “Only me,” he muttered to himself.

His arms were hurting a lot.

He was shaking.

Fantastic.

“Lulio! You need to contact Voltron!” Lance yelled, his arms trembling. 

There was scrambling, which Lance couldn’t see over the collapsed roof. “What’s the last number?” He yelled back.

“Eighth symbol from the left,” Lance’s voice weakened as all his concentration went into stopping himself from being crushed completely. “Looks like a bowl.”

Static. Before Lulio also held the earpiece up, or at least Lance guessed that was what he was doing as all Lance could hear and see was everything around him falling and breaking around him. Maybe this was hell.

Lance’s arms spasmed and his grip on his shield loosened as rubble crashed down either side of him. He was vaguely aware of Lulio speaking, talking about paladins and Voltron. But all his effort was on this. Keeping himself alive.

He was going to make it out of here.

Then something buzzed in his ear.  _ “Prince Lulio. We need the tower blown up now.” _

Lance heard that and wanted to laugh. His luck.

“Wait,” Lulio barked back, his voice bossy.

His arms were shaking. He wasn’t going to be able to hold this up for much longer. Everything hurt, his head for some reason, his arms, his legs. It would just stopping if he dropped the damn roof.

_ “Prince Lulio.” _

“I said wait!” He yelled. “Lance,” he said and the pause said everything that he needed to know.

Lulio wasn’t going to risk this too much by getting Lance out of here. He wanted to be offended, but he understood it. He couldn’t resent Lulio for doing what was best overall. Even if that meant he was going to get crushed here.

Coolio.

“Blow it up,” Lance gritted out. 

“We can get you out—”

“You can’t,” he responded. “I can’t hold this from much longer. The tower needs to be blown up now… did you contact Voltron?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Lance said quietly, “Okay.” He took a deep breath. 

He knew he’d be fine. The stars would align and somehow he’d make it out of this. If he could survive being dropped into a pit of lava he could survive this. If he propped his shield up he’d be able to lie underneath. Then pray that the rubble would blow up and he’d be able to crawl out.

“Go!” He yelled, “I’ll be fine!”

There were hesitant footsteps as something rolled. Lance managed to move so that his shield was holding up the rubble and he didn’t need to do anything. Instead he shielded the back of his neck, ignoring the pain thumping in his back.

Metal was in there, he guessed that much.

A few soft beeps, before a bright flash and pain.

* * *

Keith woke up screaming. Which wasn’t unusual for him. 

What was unusual was that he was in pain.

His side was killing him, like his lung had been crushed. “Oh fuck.” He whispered, “What the fuck?” He held his side, trying to breathe steadily through his mouth. Tears watered in his eyes as he laid back down, clutching his side.

Hadn’t his appendix already been taken out?

There was a change in pain and it felt burning hot, causing Keith to yelp. 

“Keith?” That was Shiro, on the other side of his door. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he whispered, and that was the loudest sound he could manage because everything was in pain and he just wanted it all to stop and soon. The door slid open and Shiro stepped in, who must’ve taken one look at Keith and picked him up.

Eventually he was put back down in a medical bed, staring at the roof. “Have you had your appendix out?” Pidge asked, she was bustling around them, walking like a maniac, asking questions that Keith only half knew the answer to.

“Yes. When I was fourteen,” he replied. Clutching at his side. “So no, it’s not that.”

Pidge hummed, tapping her clipboard with a pencil. “Maybe your lung burst?”

“He’d be dead,” Hunk added. “Maybe it’s a Galra thing?”

“Yeah…” she said, “Is it a Galra thing?”

“How would I know?” Keith responded, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s not like I had a parent to warn me about this,” he snapped and Pidge and Hunk put their hands up in surrender. 

“Okay, Keith, calm down,” Shiro said, so he was back then. “I know it hurts—”

“Do you?” His voice was becoming slightly hysterical now. He was in pain for no reason, what was happening to him? Maybe he was actually going crazy, that made sense, he probably was going crazy. Of course he was. Of fucking course he was going crazy. “I’m going crazy,” he said. “I’m actually going crazy.”

Then nothing. It stopped.

Keith sat up, “What the fuck. What the fuck?”

“What?” Pidge asked, “Did you feel something burst, Coran!”

“It stopped,” Keith said, and quietly, as everyone stared at him, slightly disbelieving and Keith felt that way too. What the fuck was happeneing to him? “Why did it stop!” He yelled.

Shiro stepped between Hunk and Pidge, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder as Coran walked in holding a bunch of medical equipment that Keith didn’t want to know what it did. “I am going crazy. I’ve finally snapped.”

“Keith,” Shiro said in his Dad Voice™ and Keith felt a little bit calmer, not a whole bunch. But a little bit. “You’re probably not going crazy.”

“Probably?” Pidge and Hunk yelled and Shiro ignored them.

“You’re on new meds right?” Shiro asked and Keith nodded. After Keith had gotten very close to self-harm a bit ago, Shiro and Allura and Coran had decided he needed some anti-depressants. He had them back on Earth and it was surprising he didn’t relapse sooner.

Shiro kept on, apparently he was on a roll and wouldn’t be stopping that anytime. “That might be why everything’s kinda weird. They might not be right with your Galra genetics and so they’re messing you up.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah—”

There was a beeping, meaning that they were getting a message from someone. Keith got himself off of the bed and ran into the area that they normally got messages. Allura was standing there, tight-lipped, eyes firm and her hair done in a tight bun.

That was never good.

Keith just stared for a long moment, before someone popped up on the screen. With dark brown skin, black hair with green highlights and bright green eyes. Keith stared for a moment, he was  _ attractive.  _ Like really attractive.

Shiro clapped him on the back and Keith snapped out of it.

“My name is Lulio—”

Keith immediately knew what was happening. Lance had mentioned Lulio at least once, in the first dream, he was the prince who worked in a bar. Suddenly Keith managed to put two and two together. Lance did look like he’d been chokeslammed, and he’d been spending time with a  _ really  _ attractive prince.

Great.

“Prince Lulio of Dubux. My people are currently rebelling against Galra rule one of those people is someone named Lance, he has a red lion with him. He’s been trying to contact you…” he took a deep breath for some reason and Keith was curious. Then the connection cut out.

Everyone stared for a moment.

“That bastard’s alive!” Pidge yelled, “I am going to kill that motherfucker!”

Pidge would have to get in line.

* * *

Lance woke up. Which first of all within itself was shocking. Second of all, he was in a bed. Third of all, Lulio was sitting next to his bed, concern covering his face as Lance sat up slowly.

“Hi.” Lulio said and Lance hummed in response, before throwing himself back onto the bed. “How are you?”

“Shit,” Lance coughed and Lulio looked slightly horrified. So Dubaxan’s didn’t cough then. “It’s a human thing,” he coughed a bit louder and Lulio started looking around for a nurse or something. “Where am I?”

“The infirmary in the palace,” Lulio said, his hands were folded in his lap. “I’m going to be king soon…” he trailed off to let it set in place. Amori was really gone, and Lulio hadn’t been there because he’d been with him.

“I’m sorry,” Lance said and Lulio nodded. “I’m sure she’s looking down on us from the stars calling me a rascal.” Lulio laughed at that, slightly wistful and slightly sadly. “Dammit, he’s still alive.”

Lulio shook his head, but he was smiling too. “You’re a nightmare.”

Lance nodded enthusiastically and Lulio leaned forwards, brushing his fingertips against the markings that were somehow still on Lance’s cheeks. Smiling and saying nothing else. Lance put his hand over Lulio’s hand and kept it there.

“What happened?” Lance asked.

“The explosion did get stuff off you, it also rolled more things onto you. I managed to get us out and you back here.” He gave a short smile before drawing away his hand and Lance didn’t chase after it. 

There was something crashing, some yelling and Lance sat up straighter. Hands scrambling for a weapon that he didn’t have. More crashing and more yelling, yelling which felt familiar and he couldn’t tell why.

“You need to calm down!” Someone yelled.

“Fuck off!” The voice returned. “You need to be more worked up about this!” There were footsteps and a familiar mullet was standing in the doorway, his eyes scanning around and passing right past Lance.

Okay then. Rude.

“We’ve lost him!” Keith yelled, throwing up his hands and turning around. “Again! How does this keep happening!” He started down between the beds to the other side of the infirmary and Lance would’ve been offended if this hadn’t been so funny.

Lulio raised an eyebrow, but he was definitely staring at Keith as he retreated. Ew. Lance scrunched up his face and whacked Lulio. “He’s hot,” he whispered. “Like you’re beautiful but he’s  _ hot. _ ”

“Are we gonna tell him?” Lance whispered back as Keith sighed and spun back around, as Shiro tried to calm him down. Not even stopping to look around the ward as he ran after Keith.

“Nah,” Lulio said, smiling as Keith started yelling again. “This’ll be funny.”

“Wait,” Lance held his hand to his mouth to hide a laugh. Before cupping his hands to his mouth to shout at Keith and Shiro who were respectively yelling and trying to stop the yelling. 

There was a pause in the talking and Lance took that.

“Oi! Somehow your mullet has gotten even worse!” Lance called out.

“Fuck off Lance!” Keith yelled, without missing a beat. Before a moment of silence where something seemed to set in Keith’s brain and Shiro’s too. In perfect sync they looked at him, their expressions almost identical.

“Lance!” Shiro yelled as Keith yelled, “Holy shit, Lance!”

Then there was a scramble of footsteps as Keith ran to the side of his bed, just staring at him for a long moment. Opening and closing his hands into fists as he glared at Lance, and Lance didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Probably both.

They were actually here.

Shiro had taken Lulio’s spot as Lulio scrambled out of the way, muttering something under his breath as he looked at Lance one more time and Lance knew that Lulio would be back, he gave a real smile before turning around.

Keith huffed next to him and Lance looked up at him. “Hey Mullet,” he said and Keith glared at him and Lance didn’t know if he was going to hit him or hug him, they both seemed interchangeable when it came to Keith. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“You asshole,” Keith said, his voice wavering a little bit. “I’m going to kill you.”

Shiro opened his mouth and Keith held up a hand, silencing him. “I am going to stab you in the stomach and then I’m going to—”

Lance flung his arms around Keith’s stomach and Keith responded by hugging him back, even patting his back awkwardly. The whole Keith experience, awkwardness, murder threats and mutual caring about each other.

“Lance Charles McFucking McClain!” That was Pidge screaming, which was always a good time. “I’m going to end your bloodline, you think that you’re living past today. You’re not, I’m going to—” Pidge faltered fumbling as flung herself onto the bed. “I’m going to—”

“Do something?” Keith interjected, helpfully as ever.

“Correct!” Pidge yelled, “I’m going to do something to you after I become a professional koala and hug you forever!”

Lance laughed, as there was shuffling and a loud, happy noise. Hunk, standing there in all of his glory. Before staring at Lance like he’d seen a ghost, and shuffling forward. Hugging him so hard that Lance got lifted off of the bed. And Lance started crying with Hunk and Pidge and he was pretty sure Shiro was crying.

Keith wasn’t crying and Lance would’ve been offended but he knew that he was just as relieved, he just didn’t show it in the same way everyone else did and that was okay. 

There he stayed, wrapped up in people’s arms as they hugged them with everything that they had. Coran and Allura had joined later and they’d all had a big crying session, and Lance was pretty sure that Keith’s eyes were shiny too.

Eventually he’d gotten out of bed, with Keith fretting about his injuries. Which had resulted in the following interaction:

“Can you even move your neck?” He’d said too loudly, certainly loud enough that everyone heard. “Looks like you’ve been chokeslammed.” Five pairs of eyes shot to him, landing on his neck which he tried to defend.

Pidge gasped, Shiro cringed, Allura looked confused, Coran was smiling proudly and Hunk looked mortified. Lance had stared up at Keith, the fury of a thousand suns in his eyes as he glared with everything he had.

Keith shrugged. The bastard. “Hope you had fun,” he drawled, patting Lance on the shoulder and Lance let out a string of curse words which were bad enough that Pidge cringed and Keith had responded with a string of curse words as bad.

Now he was out in the reddish dirt, laughing as Pidge took up on her promise on becoming a koala, clinging to his back as he piggy-backed her around, Hunk adding commentary. Shiro, Allura, Coran and Lulio were talking and Keith was standing to the side being emo.

Shook.

“C’mon Gerard Gay!” Pidge yelled and Lance looked up, almost dropping Pidge who yelped. “What the fuck?”

“Keith’s gay?” Lance squeaked and everyone looked at him, even Shiro, Allura, Coran and Lulio had stopped to look over at him. He looked at Keith. “You’re gay?”

“He wears a crop-top jacket,” Pidge said flatly.

“And fingerless gloves,” Hunk added.

Keith’s lip quirked up into a smile, “And she just called me Gerard Gay,” he crossed his arms and smirked. “Yes, I’m gay. Have a problem with it?”

Everyone was looking at him, waiting for an answer. When Lulio interrupted with a loud laugh and Keith glared at him as he laughed. Lulio waved a hand, chuckling a bit more as eyes focused back on Lance.

Considering last night he was making-out with Lulio, he wouldn’t say he had a problem with it as such. Keith just looked at him, an eyebrow quirked. The bastard knew and was trying to make him homophobic.

“No,” Lance replied tersely. Even if he wasn’t helping his point at all. “No, that’s fine.”

“Why are you reacting weird?” Pidge asked.

“Because things make sense,” Lance lied and Keith just raised an eyebrow and Pidge also raised an eyebrow. “I mean I’d think he had better fashion sense because,” he gestured at Keith. “I’m not even gay—”

Lulio snorted.

“But even I’m better than that.”

Everyone seemed content with that answer and went back to what they were doing, Pidge doing a stellar koala impression and latching herself onto Lance’s back as he walked around, Hunk chattering as Keith walked around behind them. Interjecting with one of his witty comments every now and again.

“Nine-one-one,” Pidge said, “I’d like to report a murder—”

“It wasn’t that good,” Lance grumbled, and Hunk, ever the one to back up his best friend, didn't say anything. “McClain the McJoke. Kogane, more like… Ko...Gay...n”

“That was pathetic,” Pidge said and Lance nodded, laughing. “My Grandma has better roasts than that.”

“Your Grandma is a cruel lady,” Keith shuddered and Pidge brightened.

“You’ve met her?”

“Yeah…” Keith’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration and Lance stared for a moment longer than he needed to. “Before Kerberos, there was a huge party and Shiro was invited…” he paused and Lance watched him as he was thinking. “Yeah, and I went. I was in the corner and your grandma guessed I was gay in like three seconds and I ended up making out with—”

“That’s all I wanna hear,” Hunk muttered, looking quite horrified. “Look. I do not want to hear about who any of you make out with.”

Lance brightened, “What about people who we—”

“No.” Hunk said flatly and Lance laughed loudly.

One time, Lance had taken a girl back to his dorms, they weren’t going to do anything past kissing but Hunk had walked in, before leaving straight away and claiming he needed therapy forever. Which probably wasn’t wrong.

Still Lance laughed and Hunk laughed, slightly more horrified but it was still a laugh.

All was good.

* * *

How was Keith supposed to compete with a prince? A prince who was becoming a king soon? The answer was that he wasn’t and Keith was going to rot away into the ground. There were footsteps and someone sat next to him.

Lulio. With his bright green eyes and highlights, Keith wanted to hate him, but even he knew there was no actual reason to hate him. He seemed nice, he seemed like a better version of… everyone.

“Hey.” Lulio said and Keith huffed, turning his face so he was looking at him.

“Yes?”

He sighed, his shoulders relaxing as Keith just stared at him and the markings on his face, they were almost like Altean markings. “So you’re Keith?”

“Yup.”

“I’m going to cut to the chase, you like him,” Lulio said and Keith flinched at the words but still nodded. “And you know that Lance and I… y’know.”

“I don’t think I wanna know what y’know means,” Keith muttered and Lulio snorted and Keith was trying really hard to hate him, but he was making it difficult to. “I know it’s none of my business and I don’t care, Lance is his own person and he’s not mine to be jealous over.”

“Correct,” Lulio smiled, “I approve of you. And because you’re not awful, we didn’t do anything past kissing.”

“I don’t care,” Keith lied, turning so he was staring straight ahead.

“I know you’re lying,” Lulio stretched out, his legs no longer crossed and instead laying out in front of him. “You don’t want to care, but you do and that’s… that’s whatever.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Lulio sighed.

“Look, I came here to talk to you. Because we care about him the same way and I know you’re one of his closest friends and I don’t have that with him but—” Lulio sighed, brushing hair out of his face. “Being real, Lance and I aren’t going anywhere. He’s leaving, my duty is to my people, his is to the universe. I get it.”

Keith nodded, because he understood. He understood people leaving for something bigger than him. Shiro left for space, space was more important than him. He got it, he really did.

“Just…” Lulio looked at Keith, “Try and keep him safe. He’s a good person and the universe needs to meet him. This isn’t me passing the reins over or anything, Lance is his own person. But—”

“I get it,” Keith repeated and Lulio smiled. “Trust me, I really get it.”

“You’re not all that bad,” Lulio laughed, “I wanted to hate you, I saw how you were looking at Lance—”

Keith smiled, “Me too.”

And Lulio laughed louder at that, and Keith couldn’t help but smile with him. “Seriously, just… I know you all have his back, but I want someone to tell me that.”

“We’ll protect him with our lives.” Keith paused for a breath. “I’ll protect him with everything, I thought I lost him once… never again.”

Lulio sighed softly, relaxing. “Has anyone told you that you are very attractive?”

“What?”

“What? You are,” Lulio said and Keith rolled his eyes. Before Lulio looked at Lance in the distance lugging Pidge around who had grabbed onto his leg. “Don’t you agree Lance?”

“Sure,” Lance replied and Keith rolled his eyes even more, before looking back at Lulio.

They stayed silent as Lulio shook with silent laughter. Keith rolled his eyes and looked back at Pidge, Hunk and Lance having the time of their lives. Laughing over nothing and crying over everything. It was almost sweet.

When Lulio calmed down he glanced at Keith, then back out at Lance. “I think you’d be good together. I don’t really know you that well, but you just… seem right. Maybe not romantically, what’s your word for two people intertwined? Like with their auras?”

“Soulmate?” Keith said and Lulio shrugged.

“Maybe. You just seem like each other’s people. Romantic, platonic, whatever.”

Keith shoved Lulio lightly and Lulio shoved him back.

Maybe Keith wasn’t a prince, but he was apparently. ‘Lance’s person’ which seemed like a pretty good deal to him.

“C’mon Keith!” Shiro yelled at him, snapping him out of his moment of appreciating that he was actually better than this prince. No matter how nice he was. “We gotta go!”

* * *

Just before they left, with general chaos going on. With Lulio trying to tell his guards to stand down and Lance having lost his undersuit and went to go looking for it, finding it in the room of the bar and running back out.

Keith was leaning against Red. His arms crossed, his hair was ruffled beautifully, sticking up in the right places to give him the badass rogue look. Purple eyes scanning everything, almost shimmering in the warm glow of the sunset, making his skin warm and beautiful. Lance stared at him, admiring the points and curves, admiring the slope of his nose or the sharp eyes which looked softer around the edges. Even the way his armour was hugging his chest and shoulders, in a way that made him look like a Greek or Roman God of fertility and just general looking like  _ that _ —

Oh.  _ Oh.  _

Lance realised with a small start. That he had a crush on Keith Kogane. He looked at Hunk, opening his mouth before closing it firmly.

He had a crush on  _ Keith Kogane.  _ The, Keith Kogane. Someone he spent actual time with, someone who if he fucked this up with it mattered, it mattered on a universal scale. 

“Lance?” Shiro asked, standing next to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” his voice was strained and he knew that Shiro noticed that. “Fine.”

But he wasn’t fine. He had a crush. A crush on  _ Keith Kogane.  _ One of the kindest, most protective, caring, precious people in the entire universe.

The books and movies that Lance read had described crushes as the most wonderful thing in the world, making you feel alive and on fire and the driving force behind everything.

So why did Lance feel like he was going to cry?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some of y'all wanted Lulio and Keith to fight/be jealous of each other. First of all, they totally are jealous of each other. They're just mostly mature adults who care about Lance (and probably find the other one funny/hot). For anyone wondering, Lulio will be back, I got to attached to the bitch and now he's constantly lurking in the back of my mind. Causing mayhem and completely throwing this story off course. 
> 
> Good news! Or bad if you're Lance. He's finally figured out he has a crush on Keith! This wasn't meant to happen until the next fic, but sometimes you gotta speed things up to make the next part sweeter. On the agenda is the Shiro issue, and the dream-scape situation.
> 
> Comment any theories/any thoughts/do we love or hate Lulio. I love him, but y'all may not because he's getting in the way of Klance! I love reading your comments so do not hesitate to start ranting.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!! See you in the next part. (Which will be fluffy, don't worry. They need a holiday after this.)


End file.
